Being in a small capital city where government and universities are the two major economic drivers has it’s benefits. Having two undergraduate education programs in town, combined with two other programs less than 90 minutes away, provides us with many opportunities to host student teachers / interns at our school. This gives us a chance to gauge how different programs are preparing students as educators in the 21st century.
One program in particular has really taken a lead in starting conversations about the shift from teaching to learning and the role that technology and the web must play in providing opportunities for students to connect and collaborate. The others? Well…there is still work to be done.
Today I had an opportunity to spend some time with a new student who just started a 12 week internship at our school. The conversation started somewhere like this.
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Me: So, what kinds of courses have you had surrounding technology in your education program?
Her: None
Me: You haven’t had any courses where you used technology?
Her: Well, they did tell us about SMART Boards, but they never taught us how to use them.
Me: Have you heard the term “Web 2.0”?
Her: No
Me: Are you familiar with blogs, wikis?
Her: No
Me: podcasts?
Her: I’ve heard of podcasts, but not in my courses.
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Now, this was just a small part of the conversation, but pretty reflective of where she is starting her career. I spent the next hour updating her on our 1:1 program, how we leverage technology for learning, some of the projects we do. I think I scared/stunned her, especially when I told her that we actually have teachers who have used Social Networking tools like Facebook for learning. I still have much to share. My question, just what has she learned by spending 3 terms in an education program that has prepared her to be a learning leader for the 21st Century?
It reminded me of Greg Whitby’s video where he encourages us to change the fundamental DNA of teaching and learning.
What role do our university/college teacher training programs have to play in the shift? Does the shift need to come from somewhere else? Just how/where do we interrupt the education narrative to start a new story?
Technorati tags: technology, education, whipple, learning