Comments on: I Know It’s Not New . . .

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 04:43:02 +0000

Blog Response to Bud Hunt:
I agree with Bud when he talked about engaging teachers with their own material. Teachers are individuals who are charged with the opportunity to create “episodes of buildable wonder”, regardless of grade level. A teacher who isn’t passionate about the subject he/she is teacher cannot possibly hope to pass that passion (or lack thereof) onto the students. A passionate teacher is more than just entertaining. A passionate teacher can show his/her students what they find fun and interesting in that particular subject, as well as inspire curiosity and induce wonder and joyous amazement at the world they were previously ignorant to. To become an effective teacher, one must first be a passionate teacher. Doing so can make an individual teacher more than just a mere person talking to an audience. A passionate teacher can show his/her students a world that they have hoped to see; hoped to experience. Passionate teachers literally open our eyes, and make the learning process more than a stack of homework. Learning becomes an exciting journey that the student looks forward to everyday after that.

By: Louann

Louann — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 16:19:56 +0000

Bruner often surprises and delights with his language. I love the idea that courses of study should be “episodes of buildable wonder.” What does that look like for teachers and students and how does technology help us create those episodes for us all?

By: Winnie

Winnie — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 01:40:45 +0000

Moments of wonder and delight – that’s what learning should be! “Knowledge” has expanded beyond what is teachable – what we are teaching today is how to be excited about learning more!

By: Kelly Christopherson

Kelly Christopherson — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 23:07:49 +0000

Bud,

Your comments are very true. I want my children to be engaged in these episodes throughout their schooling. As many of us have discovered as we use these tools, it isn’t really the tools but the freedom that it gives the teacher to allow students to have those episodes. I believe that one of the things that is stifling great adoption of the tools is this very fact – it creates opportunity where students see that they can have control over their learning and that really scares teachers because they don’t know what will be the final outcome. It’s much easier to control the flow of information so that the outcome is predictable – and safe – than it is to allow students to create responses that may go in directions that the teacher does not want to go. I’ve struggled with this myself as I allow students to create their own documentaries – what is the limit I will allow students to explore? What is “acceptable” and what isn’t? By allowing students to explore, we need to change how we view education and that can be very difficult for both teachers and students. It really forces all parties involved to explore the nature of learning, especially in the outcome driven times in which we are living. Thanks for the great link!