David Warlick

Notes from the Canyons School District Ed Tech Retreat:
A conversation with David Warlick

Technology integration -- Not!
It's not about the technology, it's about the information.
Networking has allowed us to get information directly from the author instead of through a publisher.
We get overwhelmed by all the information that is available to us.

Book: Redefining Literacy
Literacy is no longer only being able to access text, it is now being able to determine what is true and valuable from the abundance that is available.
Students need to learn how to communicate with images, sound, etc. as well as in text.

Questions to ask teachers: What are students learning about finding information?
For the first time in history we are preparing our children for a future we cannot clearly describe. So, we need to teach students to teach themselves. In the industrial age it made sense for us to teach kids how to learn, but today we need to teach them how to teach themselves. Talking, defending, deciding. Ask them the question, "How do you know that's true?" Defending how and where you got your information.

Students should be publishing for a real audience. - Blogging - Their learning and thinking becomes a conversation. It's not just about writing for grades, it's about sharing and conversing. For example, use tag clouds to analyze plays, books, speeches. 21st Century teaching is all about conversations. And conversations in new ways.

This is hard because it's asking teachers to redefine what it means to be a teacher. A teacher needs to be a master learner. This gives you permission to say:

• "I don't know."
• "How did you do that?"
• "How would you figure out how to do that?"
• "Let me find out and get back to you."

If a teacher brings in information from the Internet, they can model how to be a master researcher. This is done as a conversation in the classroom everyday, not necessarily the kids sitting in front of a computer doing a project.

The teacher is a curator. Help the students be information artisans. Take information and shape it. Mold it. Make it beautiful. Show it off.