Thing #20 21st Century Learners

I'm not sure how I feel about this video and the one that inspired it, the college class that we watched earlier. With their solemn, non-smiling faces, they make me feel like we're ruining their lives by teaching in the "old" style and expectig them to listen, maybe even that I'm doing young students a great disservice by reading them stories in the reading circle in the library. I should be...what? plugging in a MP3 player or a DVD of the stories? Somehow that doesn't seem to be a great advancement.

I do think teachers have to be somewhat up-to-date on new technology. (Of course, it's hard to STAY up-to-date--technology regenerates and is born anew while we're sleeping every night.) More than being completely techno-savvy, we need to have a fresh, seeking kind of attitude about new things. But to completely change teaching styles, and switch completely to Web 2.0 is also doing students a disservice. We need to show them both ways. So they're 21st century learners? Who's going to say that 20th century learners have nothing to add to that repertoire?

I keep thinking about those Star Trek scenes--I'm can't remember whether their from a movie or the TV series--where Captain Picard pulls out a book and sits in his room and reads. He's surrounded by super-advanced technology, yet still reading from a book by choice. That's what I wish for these 21st century learners--a chance to know both ways.