Living in 4 D

I think that September is New Year’s as many of us in education do. I love the summer as a time for renewal and re-thinking. I always approach the new year with excitement. But this year it seems different. What is it about this new year? The year seems “fake” to me. While I am passionate about student learning and that will never change, I am not seeing education changing for our students. Think about how our students live. They live life in 4 D -not even in 3 D anymore. From the moment they get up in the morning until the time they go to bed, they are living the social media life – text, Facebook, gaming, tweeting, and everything on-line. Life for them is all about individuality. Growing up in the 70’s, I get this. That’s what my generation was about. I am not saying this is a bad thing, but my students have not lived without technology. They don’t have to think – gps takes them wherever they have to go. Social media connects them to whoever they need to be connected. I feel their lives are lived completely differently. How is this changing the way they learn? Imagine living in an individual world and having to come to school to do what everyone else does – take notes, standardized tests, and conform to the rules of school. I look forward to the day when schools are turned inside out and students are learning the way they live, in 4 D. I am actually thinking seriously of getting my PhD in brain research to research the impact of technology on our students’ learning and what education really needs to do to help the next generation reach their potential. Let’s get the conversation started to reform education! For real.