TELWill

I found this article a fascinating read, in part because the questions it addresses are ones which have been key within my work life, and that I have pondered myself. In an age where knowledge is increasing at such a massive rate, and it is accessible so easily and efficiently - does the very way we 'acquire', 'learn' and 'use' knowledge need to change? The key message (for me) is nicely summed up in the conclusion 'Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today'. A really key new concept for me was the idea of the 'knowledge half life', the concept that as new knowledge is acquired, old knowledge may become out of date or obsolete. The idea that knowledge is growing so quickly now is truly fascinating, and the rate at which we are expanding our knowledge is truly astounding:  'Half of what is known today was not known 10 years ago. The amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past 10 ye...

I have found with any learning activity, I am more drawn in to it and more likely to follow it through, if it holds an interest for me...so when reading through (the very well written) 'Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0' by John Seely Brown and Richard P. Adler, whilst wondering which innovation to pursue, I saw 'Project bugscope'. As a child and to a certain extent now, insects and animals in general have held a fascination for me, so this project instantly caught my eye. From the age of nine to when I was eighteen I lived in Brunei, and spent many many hours with my brother off in the jungle finding insects and animals. I remember my parents buying me a small microscope, and spending hours collecting 'samples' to look at. So the idea of the bugscope project is one I can see that I would have loved as a child. Project bugscope began in 1999 and allowed KS12 students to send small creatures to the University of Illinois, and then...