Week 1 - Slightly Shifting Thoughts

Unlike my last blog, which was really a rant, this piece will focus on the other readings from Week 1.

In "World Without Walls: Learning Well With Others," there were some rather simple ideas which are not new to me, but succintly expressed:

1) Blogs can be used as a tool for social and political organization. We saw this with our colleague Kerry Dyke's organization of banning plastic bags at a Villa location using Facebook to organize consumers. However, I would also like to add that this all started with a face-to-face contact, when Brooke Estin (an ISB grad) came to talk to my Global Studies class about her involvement with microfinance. She mentioned how carrotmob.org works, and I later mentioned it to Kerry. So, digitial tools enhance social organization, but face-to-face connections are important as well.

2) As author Will Richardson states, "We must ne adept at negotiating, planning, and nurturing the conversation with others we may know little about - not to mention maintaining a healthy balance between our face-to-face and virtual lives (another dance for which kids sorely need coaching)."

3) As educators, we need to re-think our role, to strike a balance between connectors/advisors/mentors in navigation, and content expertise. Particularly at the middle school level, and particularly with international school clientele, I think we still have a huge responsibility in talking about WHAT is important for students to know and learn.

"HANGING OUT"

I had read the MacArther Foundation article earlier this year. This portion was nothing new to me, as our daughter, now 19, came of age with MySpace and Facebook. The re-read made me reflect a bit more on how social and romantic relationships and status are, for those who chose to do so, negotiated in a widely public forum. However, I know a number of people who choose not to be be engaged in social networking sites - or the Internet, for that matter, and they are some of the happiest people I know!

"Disrupting Class: Student Centric Education"

I find it very hard to read an article on education which is based on an economic theory.