To truly analyze and predict the future of education, one must reflect on the past 10 to 20 years of education. As a young teacher, I have only been teaching for five years, but I feel as though the last five years of education have experienced rapid change. I think back to when I was a student and it was very didactic practices. Teachers were the delivers of information, while students just sat in their desks and absorbed as much of the knowledge as they could. No one ever saw anything wrong with this practice. These types of practices were the norm of education for nearly an entire century, until individuals began to examine needs of the 21st century and what individuals will need to be able to do in order to be successful in a rapidly changing society. Because of the technological revolution that is reshaping the work place, scholars began to realize that if the work place of the 21st century is changing, then the ways in which students are educated need to change as well. This is one of the first times paradigm shifts in both the workplace and the classroom are paralleled. Experts realize that if students are going to be successful in the future, then they need to learn skills that are in demand. This has caused the most recent shifts in the ways in which students are learning, but the shifts are just stating. Over the course of the next ten years, educators will be experiencing the most rapid shifts in the ways in which they teach and manage their classrooms. Exactly what those changes will be is not always easy to predict, but some conclusions about the future of education can be made.
The 2020 vision in the simplest form has students at the center of the educational practices. Student centered learning has been a push for the past decade, but the idea of student centered learning will mean much more than it does now. Students will be constantly collaborating with their peers in the classroom and beyond. Classrooms will no longer be confined to the 4 walls that enclose it. Students will be using technology and web 2.0 tools (which I will explain in more detail later) to connect with individuals around the world. Students will not be individual learners any longer. They will be global students, who seek out information by collaborating with individuals around the world.  Students will have a broader and more global perspective on all issues and topics they learn about. The 21st century student will be defined by this idea of being “global” in perspective and thought. But the question then exists, how do you ensure that students will have the means to become these global students?
The world is rapidly changing because of modern technology, especially web 2.0. Some experts really believe that the world is flattening, which means that all countries and individuals are becoming interconnected. If these shifts are currently going on in the world, then the ways in which students are taught need to parallel these shifts. Businesses need individuals with 21st century skills. Individuals who think critically, but most important can work with others and use modern technology to seek information and also solve problems. If these are the needs of the 21st century workplace, then why not teach these skills in the classroom. We are currently seeing the beginning of these shifts as 2010 approaches, but by the year 2020, all students will be learning the skills necessary to be marketable in the global workplace.
Having explained the skills that will be desired by 21st century work places, what exactly will students be doing in schools that will prepare them for these jobs? Currently, students are working more and more with laptops and by the year 2020, I believe all students will be given laptops by their respective school districts. This is a lofty goal, but I feel the shift is already occurring and if districts want to allocate their money effectively, they will push for giving students the effective resources to be successful beyond their educational experiences. Think about it, how much do textbooks costs? Now think about how most textbooks can be accessed digitally on the web. If more money was spent on providing students laptops for educational purposes, then students can more easily access the abundance of web 2.0 tools that are rapidly changing the ways in which all individuals learn and acquire information.
In the year 2020, students will be collaborating and communicating with students across the globe through the means of blogs, wiki’s, and different web 2.0 tools like Skype. I believe   that these web 2.0 tools are very important to education today, but to truly envision the full scope with which these resources will be used in ten years. Classrooms will truly rely on the Internet for everything. Video conferencing, through Skype, will be come a common practice by which teachers will connect their students with others across the country and world. The global connections that students will be making because of web 2.0 resources, will make them much more critical thinkers. Students will no longer memorize information, rather they will find information; evaluate it, and then share/collaborate with others over the web about their thoughts and ideas. In the end, this takes a student who prior to the 21st century would just skim the top of the information that was presented to them by their teachers, to a learner who holds a lot more responsibility about what they learn. When teachers facilitate the learning process and students have more ownership of what and how they are learning, the depth with which individuals learn is much greater.
Another major change that will occur in the classroom by 2020 is the idea of going “paperless.” By 2020, students will hand in all their work through course management systems or they will be using Google resources to collaborate and complete class work. I honestly believe by the year 2020, we will encounter “Google Classroom.” Google will create a course management system that will coordinate and help run all components of the classroom, much like Moodle and Blackboard systems are doing currently.  I have already described how I believe all students will have laptops, so if this is the case, there will be no need to hand out papers or for that matter use paper resources at all. This will also change the ways in which students will always have access to class work, even when they are not at school. I believe the future of primary education will look much more like colleges function. Students have constant access to their professors and the class work. This means students will be 24/7 learners and teachers will act more as 24/7 class facilitators. These will be changes that both teachers and students will need to work at together. But if one is to look at the global community we live in, things are happening at all hours of the day and I believe learning will begin to parallel society more and more over the course of the next ten years.
Many educators are worried about what the future holds, but I am truly excited at the opportunities that await. I believe education should look similar to the way in which businesses and work places operate. As a society, if we wish to meet the needs of the 21st century and keep pace with other countries that are out pacing our educational system, then the current system needs to change. Web 2.0 is opening doors to change and as districts and states continue to adopt these changes, a major overhaul of the ways in which students learn will continue to occur. Teachers need to have an open mind and work slowly at incorporating these new practices into their classrooms. But as more and more teachers change the way they teach and use web 2.0, the future of education will look much different. Education in the year 2020 will be very interactive and globally interconnected. These changes will greatly enhance the depth at which students learn, educational systems will parallel the interconnected and flattened society in which we all live. The future can be scary, but the opportunities that will be given to young individuals is truly exciting to think about.

Zoho allows students to organize their thoughts by adding, just like google docs or microsoft word. But Zoho allows students to add much more. Students can add pictures, videos, and even audio recordings. This is an amazing way to reach out to students who have writing difficiences, or indivudals who are more of an adual or visual learner. Beyond these great tools, students can collaborate and share their content with other indivudals through skype. Skype works directly through the notebook, which means students can share infromation with their group while discussing it and editing it, even if they are not all in the same room.

We see all the great web 2.0 tools available, but Zoho incorporates almost all of them directly into one application. What a great tool for the classroom.

The moodle course also allows me to link webpages and journals for my studens to have quick and easy access to. As was the case at Columbia, my students can incorporate visuals with their work when they turn it in on my page. This offers a great opportunity for visual learners to gain the most out of the experience. Once work is turned in, students can hold discussions on the class page. Discussions often range from organizing group work or just discussing an assignment.

Overall, this was a big transition for me. I am still currently trying to go entirely paperless, because at times I do find it easier to just handout an assignment. I will continue to work at this though, because I truly believe the future of education will be entirely paperless.

Since doing this, I have witness students leaving my class at the end of the year, not only with more knowledge about issues we discusses, but more importantly they were able to make connections between information in my class and the world. This was only possible by changing my philosophy and utulizing the read/write web for more than just an activity time to time. My students know the expectations every unit. They prepare themselves and think about topics that they would like to do for their assignment on the very first day that I intro most units.

No longer do I have students worried about a test or “cramming” so they can pass a test that only covers the surface of what I want my students to truly know. Now students are concerned about making sure they cover the content deep enough. They also work hard to make connections between different ideas. Knowing that their understanding of my essential learnings is not just going to be viewed by me, but rather now its public to anyone on the web, makes students buy into their assessments, and overall I have had students experience a lot more success in my classroom as a result.

This shift has helped make my classroom a much more enjoyable and meaning learning environment. History is longer boring, but rather a place where connections are made and student work is worthwhile. I recommend others making this shift as well.

I believe that many of the points listed for arguments against connectivism are valid, but as we advance further into the 21st century, where individuals learn more and more from a click of a mouse, connectivism really is a learning theory that should be used by educators. I truly believe that connectivism has been built off of consturctivism and behaviourism. Overall, students need to know how to be life long learners. The ability to build knowledge throughout life has never been more needed. Students need to learn to build networks, decide what is good and relevant information, and use that information to advance their previous knowledge base. In the 21st century, individuals will most likely change careers a few times. This means individuals will need to learn new skills all over again. Connectivism is then a very relevant theory for teachers to implement so that young individuals can acquire important and relevant information to make them successful in life.

My goal over the past year has been to get my students skyping with a school around the world. I teach global perspectives, and I would love to connect my students with students in another region around the world. I believe the best way to learn about culture is by experiencing it first hand. Since I can not take my students to these regions of the world, skype could offer a connection to the culture through video conferencing. I am still working on accomplishing this goal. I hope by the end of this year to have my students skype either to a school in the Middle East or Africa. I believe the connections that would be made will create experiences for the kids they will never forget. I hope to post again on here about the experience.

I would begin by setting up the stage for Brown v Board of Education, by asking all my students to respond to a series of pictures that show life in the south for African Americans prior to 1950. I will then have students listen individually to this podcast. Students will close their eyes, listen to the podcast, and try to envision the experiences of these individuals interviewed during this podcast. The students will then meet with a small group, share out what they envisioned, record what stood out to them in their mind. Students will then listen to it one more time. This time they will record words and experiences  that stick out from the podcast. Then each small group will put all their words/experiences into a wordle. They will then take their wordle and depict in one picture (Large mural size) the experiences of the individuals interviewed in the podcast. Each group will present their wordle and depiction to the class.

I decided on this podcast because I really believe it painted a great picture in the mind of the listener. I think that is what needs to happen when you use podcasts in the classroom. Allow it to create a visual in the minds of the students, then have them depict their ideas. I think this is a great way to intro a major topic of study.

Here I have posted a picture similar to one I use to begin the Vietnam War. I would just ask them to write down what first comes to mind when they see this image. Some may know what it is, while others do not. Some may see it just as a black wall, while others we see the deeper meaning of the memorial. What this does is start conversation. But without Flickr and the valuable pictures offered, the instant deeper meaning students can obtain would not be possible. I think Flickr can be utilized at all levels and for all kids. Not only does it reach out to the visual learners, but it allows others to understand how some people view things differently then they do.

Jason W. (2009, January 9). Vietnam War Memorial. Retrieved November 3, 2009, from

The big question I am trying to figure out, is whether other teachers are dealing with similar issues with their students. Are students seeking instant gratification? Do students seem entitled? These are common characteristics I hear teachers talk about when they bring up the millennial age. No longer are students willing to work hard or seek out answers on their own. Although I find this true with some students, I think this idea of the millennial age is helping break barriers that we could not previously have done.

An article I found, linked on my toolbar, states how the millennial age has grown up with the web and instant access to the world around them. Although this might make these students lazy, it has also allowed the generation to be more aware of the world beyond their local community. Student’s are more knowledgeable because of the instant access to information that the web offers. As the article states, “Today’s students don’t want to be dismissed as ignorant, privileged, or hopeful know-nothings.”

I guess my biggest problem is with everyone complaining about students, rather than just trying to find the best ways to utilize effective tools  to understand the kids we are teaching. Some may say we are doing our students a disservice by relying on web 2.0 in education. I would disagree. I believe in order to better prepare the millennial generation of our country for the 21st century, we need to utilize the tools that can allow for progress in the future.

What are your thoughts on the Millenial Age and the future of educating this group in the 21st century?