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Knowledgeable or Knowledge-Able?

10/13/2015

2 Comments

 
In his TEDx talk “From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able” Dr. Michael Wesch discusses how the way we treat knowledge has changed with the advent of technology and the evolution of our society. This new world has created an environment where information and knowledge is at our fingertips and treating education as delivering knowledge is not enough anymore (if it ever was).
Students can now interact with not only boundless amounts of information, but also connect with people from around the world and exchange ideas. With all of these possibilities how do students feel about their place in society? According to Dr. Wesch they are “meaning-seekers in a society in which meaning and recognition are not immediately given” this can leave them feeling like they are insignificant or that their education is not as relevant to their lives as it could be.
Dr. Wesch argues that changes need to be made in the way we look at knowledge, instead of being able to recall knowledge students needs to be able to use knowledge that they access (become knowledge-able). I agree with this idea. Our society has certainly made radical changes in the way that we interact with information and this mean that our skills have to evolve as well. As is discussed in the presentation, traditional critical thinking is still an extremely important skill but it is not enough anymore. We need to teach students not only how to think critically but how to sort through and use the abundant information they are presented on an everyday basis.
Our students have grown up knowing nothing but this information revolution and in the future this will only expand to encompass a greater part of their lives. While I agree wholeheartedly with most of Dr. Wesch’s arguments, I also believe that there is a balance to be struck here. As an educator I want to be able to teach my students with a view toward their futures while incorporating the best of current and past ideas as well. 

Citation:
 Wesch, M. (2010, October 12). TEDxKC - Michael Wesch - From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able. Retrieved October 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeaAHv4UTI8 
2 Comments
Hannah O'Shea
10/20/2015 10:33:23 am

I didn't think about how there needs to be a balance, and now that you bring it up, I agree with you. The old is not "bad" it just has been rendered ineffective. So maybe instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water, we use the new to make the old effective again. I personal feel, as an English teacher, there are many aspects of the greater life that are best learned through reading the classic texts. Giving them up, or deciding to only teach portions of it (like some curriculum suggests) feels like we are giving up a part of the "Soul" behind teaching.

For the most part I too found the discussion to be inspirational, but I was also disappointed in that Wesch did not address how to make this possible, or accessible, or equitable for the students, just simply says we need to do it, and that we should start to do it. But, what about the teacher who want to but don't know how? Are there resources they can go to? How do they get started? How do we get the students to "buy into" this change in schooling, some students don't like change and have been doing the traditional version of school for so long, that this change may be difficult for them. How do we ease their fears?

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Sally Groenke
12/4/2015 11:12:41 pm

Hi Delaney,
I really like your summary statement, "that there is a balance to be struck here. As an educator I want to be able to teach my students with a view toward their futures while incorporating the best of current and past ideas as well." In the world of science education, we are experiencing a pretty exciting transition from content based to inquiry-based learning. It will be an interesting challenge to teach students critical thinking skills while also helping students sift through the the vast amounts of information available to them.

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