The value of knowledge

In the article titled, The Book Trailer: Engaging Teens Through Technology, Sara Kajder made a point that I have thought about at length, but have never been able to say, “When we expand our idea of what counts as valued communications, we value our students.” (Kadjer, 2008) In reading it, it seems so simple, but then why is it so hard to believe. Education is a field that is constantly changing, and in the beginning it seemed that teachers had the knowledge and students had to simply tap into that knowledge in whichever ways said teacher made it accessible for them. Throughout constant inventions and reinventions of the education system that idea has changed, in theory, but not always in practice. With technology advancing and dizzying rates, sometimes the tools used to educate change fast than teachers know how to use them…and that is simply unacceptable. If, as teachers, we continue to value only the core facets of traditional education, that we are sending the message that innovation, creativity, and independent learning are simply unnecessary. While technology may seem to get in the way sometimes (students accessing AIM from their phones during a lecture, focusing more on MySpace than literature, etc.) we should do everything possible to incorporate the skills our students have into the curriculum, and applaud them for the abilities they have in fields that, sometimes, they grasp much fast than we do.

Kajder, S (2008).The book trailer: Teaching teens through technology. Educational Leadership. Vol. 65.