This example sheds some light on the way media works today. We have so many more ways to connect, organize, share, collect, collaborate and publish ideas that we can have different contributors from all over the world come together and make something beautiful (“TEDxKC - Michael Wesch,” 2010). If this is what is happening in the real world, why aren’t we teaching this in schools? Wesch (2010) goes on to articulate that we need to teach students to be knowledge-able instead of knowledgeable. Students don’t need to sit in a classroom and learn what the teacher tells them (knowledgeable) as much anymore. They need to be able to learn how to find information that is important to them and will be relevant to their lives (knowledge-able). Wesch suggests that teachers should work with students to try to embrace real problems that we don’t know the answers to by using relevant tools. A scantron test is not relevant in real life. A youtube video that will be publically published online in order to help solve a real problem is something that is relevant. This is a skill that students need practice with and cannot learn from a teacher telling them how to do it.
I completely agree with Dr. Wesch’s argument. Students are still being taught what they should learn instead of learning what they are interested in. I teach fifth grade so it is difficult to imagine not teaching them math, language arts, science and social studies everyday out of a textbook because that’s what I have been trained to do. Instead, teachers need to look out into the community with their students, see real problems and work together to try to fix them. I’m not sure how I would begin with this, though. I am still expected to use textbooks and get through an allotted amount of material before state testing in April/May each school year. However, I would love to have small projects throughout the year to help expose students to this type of learning. Wesch states that students need practice in the skill of knowledge-abillty to become good at it. I would love to do my part with my students to get them started on practicing how to be knowledge-able instead only knowledgeable.
Resources
Greenpeace. Dove Onslaught(er). [Video file]. (2008, April 21). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odI7pQFyjso
TEDx Talks. TEDxKC - Michael Wesch - From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able
[Video file]. (2010, October 12). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeaAHv4UTI8