Knowledgeable vs. Knowledge-Able
Wesch describes the difference between making students knowledgeable and being knowledge-Able. Students become knowledgeable when us teachers prepare them for a test and regurgitate a bunch of facts. Preparing students to be knowledge-Able is to prepare them to find, sort, analyze, criticize and create their own conclusion. Students need the life skills of working through a problem, to fail, revise and finally succeed.
Media
Wesch also gave an example of how television is a one-way communication. The television and the people on it communicate with us, we simply listen, and we cannot communicate back. I was also blown away by Wesch’s example about the time period television was created and finally reaching homes. People went from having a certain furniture design to communicate with one another to rearranging the furniture so their focus would be on the television instead. This example brings it all back to my classroom, how I am the one dictating what the students see and hear like a television but it should not be a one-way conversation.
What is Possible vs The Classroom
As teachers, we are given the standards and the curriculum and we teach it. Students need to master certain standards in order to succeed at their next level or grade. We are given Ipads to make our students tech savvy for the future. However, we tend to continue to tell them what the end product should look like. As teachers we need to let go of that authority of giving students the vision of what their project should look like, to explore, collaborate and harness the relevant tools. Lets inspire creativity and teach the process of solving real world problems. Teach them that knowledge-ability is hard work and constant practice. Move beyond finding meaning; instead develop the stamina of creating their meaning. It’s a difficult task and something that cannot be measured easily. I’ve been to several school board meetings and listen to decision makers and they want to know the stats of everything. We can can teach facts and count the correct answers but solving the tests of life are not easily quantifiable. I believe it’s about balancing both.
References
Welsh, M. (2010, October 12). TEDxKC - Michael Wesch - From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able. Retrieved June 8, 2015.