Due July 22
Read the article What Would Socrates Say? from Educational Leadership magazine and linked from the wikispaces page. In the article it states, “He (Socrates) believed that learning came from within and that the best and most lasting way to bring latent knowledge to awareness was through the process of continual questioning and unconventional inquiry.” How do you think technology can assist us with this Socratic method of teaching? (Think about the example of the Water for the World curriculum and the Google business strategy.)
It’s funny; I was just thinking the other day about how Wikipedia has been able to amass such huge quantities of information in a relatively short period of time. In the past, published “knowledge” was controlled by a very small group of individuals. This doesn’t mean that they were the only ones who had knowledge- just that they were the ones with access to publication. Today, with wikis, anyone can add their personal knowledge to the broader realm of our social “collective intelligence.” Under the old method, the “specialist” published his/her knowledge on a given subject and the rest of us read and learned from it. Today, the specialist may still publish but then others can add their experiences thus generating conversation and often debate. Although it is great to have access to so many different facts and opinions, as Cookson pointed out in this article, “the ability to distinguish fact from factoid, reality from fiction, and truth from lies is not a "nice to have" but a "must have" in a world flooded with so much propaganda and spin.”
ReplyDeleteThis brings me back to the question at hand: “How do you think technology can assist us with this Socratic method of teaching?” Since Socrates based his teaching on questions and discussion, wikis, blogs, youtube, etc. seem to be a modern Socratic smorgasbord. I think that any use of Web2.0 education is Socratic in that one person offers information and others question or add to it offering new insights and points of view. Kids today seem to be born with electronic devices attached to their hands, they are expert web-surfers and social-networkers. As educators, it is our responsibility to help them become savvy filterers of information. Our students need to understand that just because something is on the web, it is not necessarily true or accurate. Today, we may be able to use the world as our classrooms but that means it is even more essential for students to be able to critically question the information they are reading, hearing and posting.
I agree with Britton in that technology today promotes the Socratic Method of Teaching. Socrates believed in a discussion-like teaching environment where the teacher acts as the guide and the students take an active role in the learning process. The Socratic method of teaching lets students think critically and think for themselves. 21st century students are able to access assignments through websites and the students are not as dependent on the teacher.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the article, students today are social learners and build knowledge off of one another. Technology can assist and enhance this social way of learning through blogs and wikis. Technology facilitates discussion and sharing of materials between students from all over the world through skype and other programs. Learning is becoming more project based and it is easier to work collaboratively with the use of so many new technologies. Socrates would have encouraged incorporating technology into the learning process.
I agree with everything Britton said about the need for us to filter out the "good" from the "bad" information. I think Socrates would probably question every source. I worry that students have become so impatient for quick "bites" of information, that they will need educators to teach them how to question material. We are surrounded by advertisement and bias. My morning news on TV is so politically biased that sometimes I have to turn it off. My son's middle school gave him an essay assignment on "Why we (the U.S.) need to have troops in the Middle East." So I believe that Technology itself is not to blame for incorrect or biased information. I'm sure newspaper writers, authors, historians and storytellers have been telling their own version of the truth since the beginning of time. I think Socrates questioned people in his time, because he was naturally skeptical. If he was alive today, he'd probably be sitting in a marble temple, wearing a comfortable toga, sipping a latte, and tweeting his social circle.
ReplyDeleteA great example of "Water for the World" has been going on during the oil spill crisis. People were active globally, developing products that would adhere to the oil so it could be separated from the water, and talking to each other about solutions. Many people sent their ideas to the agencies and companies, and I don't know if it helped. But the point I'm trying to make is, if Technology puts people in touch with global problems, and they feel they can make a difference, this is s great thing. People are taking "ownership" of the world, and becoming active participants in it. As educators, we should encourage this attitude in our students.
Water for the world itself is a living example of using technology in a socratic fashion. Ideals such as environmentalism and ecological responsibility are the focus of exploration, reflection, and inquiry. Technology has become the method for the testing and implementing of ideas.
ReplyDeleteIf Socrates loved the exchange of ideas between thinkers then Web 2.0's collaborative production of information is a modern version of an ancient ideal. The ability to comment on posts, whether they be on a personal blog or institutional website, harkens back to the debates held on the streets of ancient Greece. Inherent in the Web 2.0 sphere is the suceptibility to the questioning or challenging of material published online; an essential step on the path to aquiring true knowledge.
Kate, I love the vision of Socrates tweeting his social circle!!!
ReplyDeleteYour comment about the influx of ideas on how to contain the oil spill is exactly what I was talking about! Were it not for the internet and it's instant worldwide contact, people in Europe, China or even distant parts of the US would not even know about the oil spill, much less be able to offer solutions!! The availability of information is still a bit scary to me ( I watch over my daughter's shoulder constantly - who knows what she will accidentally come across), but the collaborative educational possibilities are undeniably incredible!
I think that students now have a greater ability to find their own knowledge and do not have to have a teacher spoon feed each bit of valuable information. If students are taught the proper way to research and find information that can build on their ideas then it can promote the Socratic method. The project with the water management was a great example. The project allowed students to take an interest in a subject and instead of the teacher feeding the questions or avenues of study, the student is now free to venture into areas that will fill in the structure of knowledge that is needed for that individual student
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone has said so far. I’m sure that Socrates would approve of the use of technology in the learning process. I also think that his method could certainly assist educators. But, as Britton and Kate said, students need to also be taught how to find true and reliable information. Since we live in a techno-world where everything is at our fingertips, it’s easy for students to settle for the first 10 or 20 results in a search, and not probe deeper to find the information they really need. From what I hear, some students think Wikipedia is a reliable source of information and don’t realize that it’s a bunch of people contributing their 2-cents in on a certain subject.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, sometimes surfing can produce unwanted (depending upon who you are, I guess) information. Especially since some websites mask their identity with “safe” words. (I hear you, Britton. I watch over my sons’ shoulders while they're on the web, too.)
Kate, your image of Socrates today was cute ;-)
I agree students today have more access to information and knowledge then every before. It is quick, easy, and at everyones finger tips. I think that students need the knowledge on how to find information properly and the proper info more then the actual information, being feed to them by teachers. Technology can diffinatly help us with the Soceratic Method. We just have to evolved the methid just like we have evolved the classroom to benefit from technology. Continual questionling and unconventional inquiry can still be used the studnets can produce the answers through the use of technology.
ReplyDeleteIn reading this article, I immediately flashed to an episode of "The Office" in which Michael Scott talks about wikipedia. He says,"Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject, so you know you are getting the best possible information". And yes, I googled the quote to get it exactly right!
ReplyDeleteMy point is this: yes Google and Wikipedia have put the world at our finger tips. Because we can access almost any information at any time does not make us geniuses. I am not sure that most people in the world are under the assumption that they are experts in everything. I think that this instant access and availablity of information makes us know a little bit about a lot of things. I believe this is a good thing, not a "dumbing down" of society.
As the others have said, I think Socrates would embrace technology. I think that if we teach our students how to find reliable sources (as Britton and Kate stated), and decipher good and valid information, we can continue to create a generation of learners who can access and use valuable information that is available to them.
I agree with Jeremy that the water management is a great example of students taking interest and ownership of their learning.
Wading through the murky waters of massive amounts of information is made much more manageable by your local librarian. With the revolution in technology and the transition from print to digital, librarians are now being trained to promote information literacy. Why not have the local librarian pay a visit to your classroom and demonstrate this valuable 21st century skill?
ReplyDeleteExcellent point, Christina.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all the comments above, and that librarian comment…makes great sense!
ReplyDeleteAll this technology allows students to think in new ways and challenge themselves. The accessibility to information beyond their classroom is great! I agree with Jeremy that its not up to the teacher to spoon feed information anymore, but to encourage researching, discovering and in return having the students have an invested interest.
Kids today are so techno savvy, it doesn’t make sense to think the old way of teaching is the best way to reach the 21st century student. Incorporating technology into teaching and higher level thinking can only benefit the student and classroom discussions. I think Socrates would embrace all this technology and encourage students to think outside the box (or school building) and use this great information readily available to them.
Go, Christina!!! Kudos to librarians, whose jobs are also being totally transformed by the technical revolution!!!! And what a revolution!!!! I think your image of Socrates was the best, Kate!!!! I believe he would have loved this transformation, and the the way it makes the world so much smaller in terms of communication methods, and so much bigger, in terms of ideas. (OH, no, Tom, I think I am embracing technology!!! :) Seriously, I do really like and admire what technology has done, and have always felt that way.....I just never want us to lose the personal touch.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the points made in the article and in our discussion here by many that the information wave is effectively a tsunami, washing everything into shore. We do need to be good discerners, not people who will fall for any idea that comes down the pike. Ideas, not facts rule the day, and they should. To me, questions have always been vital in the classroom, and not just factoids, but questions to make the students THINK!!!! But they can't just think....they have to connect and conceive and apply ideas. Water for the World sounds like the perfect marriage of the Socratic method and technology.
If television in the 60s brought war into people's homes, then technology today needs to bring the world into the classrooms. And because views can be manipulated, students need to be able to gather all the information and evaluate it honestly and deal with it. This becomes even more true as they become older. It is the only way they can navigate through the swells of information.
"Socrates believed that we learn best by asking essential questions and testing tentative answers against reason and fact in a continual and virtuous circle of honest debate."
ReplyDeleteTechnology has allowed the students of today to not only ask questions, but to pose these questions to many people, anywhere in the world, at any time. I completely agree with Britton's statement about a "Socratic smorgasbord". With the rise of wikis, blogs, and similar "networking" tools students can access and discuss a wealth of information at anytime.
With all of this information literally at student's fingertips it is imperative that we, as educators, teach them how to navigate through the vast quantities of information to discover what is reliable and what is not.
With one click of a mouse students can find thousands of resources for information. The question is which information is relevant to the inquiry.
I think that Denise's statement about the T.V of the 60's being compared to the technology of today really puts it into a nutshell. The world can be in our classroom, our students can ask questions and test answers based on any subject - the possibilities are enormous. I think Socrates would be proud!!
There are many ways that students can be taught in the style that Socrates pushed without technology. Long before computers there was problem solving, student accountability, individual learning, cooperative learning, analyzation, etc. None of this is new, even though people try to package is as "21st century learning" or other hot topic names. But, as many of us know, kids in today’s world have changed (for better or worse) and much more is needed to motivate children to learn. This is where technology comes in. Students can use laptops and the internet to access social networking sites, wiki pages, internet games, etc. There are the tools that students are used to using and feel most comfortable with – not pen and paper. Thus, if trained properly, teachers can increase student learning and comprehension by combining the best of both worlds. The same way teachers have taught the way Socrates pushed can be done using technology. This ensures that students are learning through the best techniques, but also using the every changing technology that is needed in a modernized world.
ReplyDeleteI have been a fan of Socrates ever since he co-starred in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. I'm on his side with questioning everything, at least to yourself. I think those little kids being real annoying and continually asking "why?" are learning a lot too.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of technology and specifically the Internet, I think you need to question everything you see and read, even the scholarly and reputable sites. I'm not one to just believe what I see just because it came from a college or a scientist. I feel my opinion is just as good as their's. Even if there's evidence supporting their argument, you should still question it or inquire unconventionally. I'm not saying that everything is wrong or people are trying to trick you, I'm just saying that questioning it at very least makes you think a little more.
So, eventhough I think you should question everything, I think the Internet in particular is an invaluable source of information. You may have to sort through a bunch of nonsense to find real information but it's out there.
I agree with everyone especially Christina regarding the comments made about our librarians and their new role as facilitators of tech. information for our 21st century learners. The most important skills that need to be taught today should be teaching students to discriminate fact from opinions, and reality versus nonsense when doing research on the web. I agree with the article that our libraries need to get on board with this technology wave and develop virtual libraries that students can learn how to access factual information and move away from using Wikipedia as their primary resource.
ReplyDeleteTeachers will continue to be the facilitator of the information but we will teach critical thinking skills through electronic learning environments. Due to the fact that literacy is on a decline something needs to be done drastically to embed technology and reading. I believe teachers and librarians need to come up with another avenue for students who spend more time surfing the web instead of reading books. I love the idea of a book club online where students can share their ideas of what they read from their favorite books or summer reading. Socrates’ philosophy of teaching in the 5th century is proving to still be effective today. Classrooms are no longer lecture halls but are now discussion groups where teachers and students questions and analyze data using numerous technology tools.
I love the idea that Socrates was the first one to develop a social learning network and I like how the article referred to the 21st century as an electronic revolution. We need to get board or risk losing valuable teaching strategies. Knowledge is now at our students’ fingertips we just need to teach them how to use it!!!!
As far as librarians go, I think they need to be experienced in the Internet. People are gonna stop using books more and more in the years to come and libraries will probably just be computers in the near future so if librarians don't find keep up with technology and newer ways or research, they're in trouble.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the real skills that students must learn in order to gain knowledge are how to differentiate between factual information and nonsense. I think the hard part is that sometimes teachers are apprehensive about teaching students how to find useful information. Rather, they teach how they were taught. (Simply give students useful information.)
ReplyDeleteGreat point, Kate, about the oil spill. The fact that people can share ideas globally with the click of a button is amazing and certainly Socratic. Essentially, Socrates believed that knowledge is gained through continual questioning and discussion. Web 2.0 allows this to happen not only in one classroom, but in several. This expands the Socratic method of questioning globally, and why wouldn't Socrates like that?