Shifting Focus in Education from the Answers to the Questions

SPEAKER:  Gabriel Kent  DEHISTROY.US

"I have a theory of life," said [Ms.] Chumlig, "and it is straight out of gaming: There is always an angle. You, each of you, have some special wild cards. Play with them. Find out what makes you different and better. Because it is there, if only you can find it. And once you do, you'll be able to contribute answers to others and others will be willing to contribute back to you. In short, synthetic serendipity doesn't just happen. By golly, you must create it."

She hesitated, staring at invisible class notes, and her voice dropped down from oratory. "So much for the big picture. Today, we're going to talk about morphing answerboard solutions. As usual, we're looking to ask the right questions."- Excerpt from "Rainbows End" by Vernor Vinge

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Pop Quiz::
Do general-purpose web-connected laptops enable student learning?

Or, do such open-ended learning tools tend to distract from the learning experience?

Will you grow to depend more on your daily technological tools, or less?
If technology is limited in the classroom in an effort to minimize distractions, how will the way students learn and act in their personal life diverge from how they will learn and act in a limited-technology classroom?

Does using the Internet to 'look up' the answer to a question constitute cheating? Is this always so?

Will you grow to seek more of your information from the Internet, or less?

Is the ability to locate and verify information becoming more important than the ability to memorize and recite information?

Which ability contributes more to the advancement of contemporary society?

Does living in a society 'rich' with technology, require an education 'rich' with technology?

In economic terms, what is the value of education to society? What is the value in social terms?

Extra Credit::
If asked to cite support for your answers to the above questions, how would you do so?

Would citations be helpful in evaluating your answers?

If plagiarism was easy to detect and was not allowed and hyperlinked citations were required, could you 'cheat' on this quiz?

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"Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school." Albert Einstein

Comments

[Steli Efti]

Wasn't it Einstein that said something to the effect of "I don't memorize information that I can read everywhere" after being asked if its true that he doesn't know his own birthday?

Hehehe...anyways...I couldn't be bothered to search for the "real" quote longer then 3 minutes since the correct wording won't change a thing about my point ;)

Great post btw. And great questions!

"The quality of your questions will determine the quality of your life" (Need to search and put in the name here later)

Oh my...quoting correctly is work..."half-knowledge" is easy...

[.hj barraza]

1) enhance, not enable

2) more info + more noise, students must develop the required skills to manage such flow and focus, in an era of information overflow, knowing how to discriminate is crucial

3) see above

4) see above

5) only if its a reasoning problem, where you should look for formulas not for answers

6) im trying to read more dead paper versions

7) its a mandatory skill in knowledge societies

8) information/knowledge literacy

9) the last time i went to the rural mexico, children know about the internet... the have seen pictures of web-browsers...
im pretty sure they don know how to google

10) misunderstood thus overrated (at least traditional education)

Extra Credit::
1) wiki, forums, blogs, books
probably would use bibme or similar online tool to organize all the bookmarks and references

2) sure, they might give a broader view and shed light on aspects i wasnt considering

3) the world is just a google click away

[Gabriel Kent]

@Steli, hehe... I actually used that quote too in my post but decided against it at the last moment... didn't want its implications to detract from my point.

"Never memorize what you can look up in books." - Einstein

[saroj]

"imagination is more powerful than knowledge". with google around, creativity should get the first priority in today's education world.

[Gabriel Kent]

@saroj, agreed.

[SueH]

For extra credit: I'd use EasyBib --> http://www.easybib.com/