reading will richardson's book (not just chapter three) i was struck by the thought of how this world of read/write web and its vast potential for classroom learning sounded incredibly similar to a book my kids had to read for school and i read when they were through: ender's game by orson scott card.
in the book, which is science fiction written in 1985 bwwwce (before common era www), all the learning done by students is done over a computer (a holographic screen). ender's family are intellects. his siblings hack into the read/write www, which is only available to high level politicians and academics, using aliases. (nothing as interesting as porkyshin, i must confess) anyway, i'm sure this isn't the only novel to present the present so accurately, but it's the only one i've read, presently.
what's this have to do with a chapter threepost? richardson says it right up front in the chapter, "the process of blogging and my use of the other tools that the read/write web has spawned have not only made writing a daily part of my life, they have changed the way that i read and consume information."
information is the key in ender's game. it is the future. in order to play, and give students the best possible chance of playing as well, we need to be prepared to explain the game to the best of our ability. weblogs are just one playing piece.
slog now or die trying!
yo porky---where/how do you find some of this stuff??? I really had to look more than several times, but now i think i know what they are!!
ReplyDeletewaiting for the next installment
when i read ender's game for the first time, i found it to be an interesting escape read-i enjoyed my time away from the present. the second time i took a look at the piece (when the #2 child had to read it) it was kind of fun, but i also found it a bit worrisome. could we/would we humans ever actually get to the point of all learning done on the computer?? the idea of little to no human-to-human contact still makes me wary. ender wiggin and his peers lives bother me, if you don't fit the mold---oh well. if you don't really like what you've been chosen to train at, oh well. ouch. not a world atmosphere that i want to live into.
ReplyDeleteon the other hand, i do think that we need to prepare students, give them the best information available. and digital technology is a part of that knowledge.
Well, at least you read something other than text book. I haven't got a chance to read anything for fun. Thanks for the comment about the song!!!! I post this because it make me think about my homeland. In which I am stuck in two places.
ReplyDeletei didn't mean that ender's game was the future. i meant information. i'm not sure that you read it that way mda, but i sort of read your post that way. i thought it was interesting that the idea of information=power was really driven home here, even if the information was recently created.
ReplyDeleteactually, i'm probably making stuff up now, because it's been a while since i read it. i should probably go back and see if it in fact lines up at all with what i'm talking about here. who knows, maybe i have a doctoral thesis in the works. "dr porkyshin, paging dr porkyshin."
Thanks for the link to the "learn for pay" blog post. (just saw it) Interesting concept. one with which I am decidedly opposed. That would signal a complete surrender of all things precious. Ed shouldn't be promoted by parents or professionals for current $ gain, if anything, it should (as a last resort) be cast as something you do to avoid unpleasantries in the form of present punishments and future looserdom. plus who's going to pay for the $ to fill the void of misplaced priorities? Let's not give up just yet. I guess I'm just a member of the "virtuacracy"... We're accepting applications
ReplyDeletep.s. why do you call it "slogging?" because you have to slog through so much garbage? (present online company excluded, of course)
ReplyDeletecedar, your post would have been better under the pitcher plant post because the plants of which i slog there, their beds, are in fact fed by a cedar swamp. see, your name is cedar, pitcher plants, swamps, slogs. it all sort of comes together.
ReplyDeletebut, the much better place for your post would have been under the post back at your own slog where i linked to the site you refer to above, because, as it stands, no one reading this has the slightest flogging idea what your slogging about. consider that in the future. i would have gone there and commented eventually.
also, your second post. i answer your question in my posts dated 12.17.08 and 12.19.08. but that would have actually involved some interest finding those, and i don't know that you could be bothered. actually, (and i do hope i'm mistaken, because the more the merrier, as they say) i'm doubting you'll be interested enough to see this; my response to your comment.
for those with whom i share much sloglove-
http://www.halfsigma.com/2008/03/paying-students.html
paste and go. i find the idea of paying students to learn intriguing.