Several years ago, I was fortunate to be given time and space to explore my beliefs about education. I realized that some of my thinking about teaching and learning had become skewed over the years, and I began to wonder what I could do to alter my thinking in a way that would benefit students. I realized that my point of view was too narrow. Today’s students are digital natives—they were born and have grown up in an era where computers, smart phones and digital media are pervasive rather than the exclusive. This technology has shrunk the globe by allowing students to reach out and contact someone on the other side of the globe with a few keystrokes.
Friedman sums it up well in his book The World is Flat (2007):
It is now possible for more people than ever to collaborate and compete in real time with more other people on more different kinds of work from more different corners of the planet and on a more equal footing than at any previous time in the history of the world—using computers, e-mail, fiber-optic networks, teleconferencing, and dynamic new software. . .we are now connecting all the knowledge centers on the planet together into a single global network, which... could usher in an amazing era of prosperity, innovation, and collaboration, by companies, communities and individuals.
Information from anywhere in the world is instantly available. Databases containing information on everything from maps to natural resources to worldwide environmental concerns may be downloaded in just a few moments. Globalization requires that today's students be prepared for a changing world. But technological savvy won't be enough because today's workplace requires that individuals communicate and collaborate with people worldwide.So I wondered, how can a teacher use information from beyond their curriculum, or even beyond the borders of our own country, to help students become more globally aware and help to ensure success in their lives beyond high school?
With this revelation, I realized that my classroom was too limiting. It is easy for a teacher to become myopic in the small, compact universe which is the classroom, restricted in scope and content by administrators who have become entrapped in a “teach to the test” mantra (despite convincing evidence that the tests are not a good measure of what is taught). Teachers are encouraged to use “real world experiences” to enhance learning in their classrooms. But if the lesson only involves only what is specified in the curriculum and the teacher’s role in establishing curriculum has regressed to devising ways to help students get right answers on tests, how real can it be? Students should not be building their reality from what is on a test, nor from what is in the media—social media included! So I wondered, how can a teacher breach the classroom walls and nurture student learning in a way that is authentic and meaningful?
And then I attended a conference on project-based learning.