Learning to learn and Loving learning

Through my twitter feed and blogroll, I realize that many teachers are struggling with the challenge of creating Web2.o experiences and 21st Century Skills to their students...adminstrative challenges such as who's accountable when Web2.0 tools are allowed to be accessed in schools. What will the future of work hold for our kids? Are we preparing them?

"Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself."

I can't define exactly the moment that I realized that I was a lifelong learner...or that I valued the process of learning...but I can tell you that I have learned more this summer through my social network than I have in many years of school....you can bet that our students are learning an awful lot through their social networks these days....

A possibility of continuing progress is opened up by the fact that in learning one act, methods are developed good for use in other situations. Still more important is the fact that the human being acquires a habit of learning. He learns to learn.

Mind you this was not written in the year 2007, these ideas have been around a LONG TIME....From Democracy and Education (1916)...via wikiquote mind you :)

Chris Lehman has been struggling with the difference between change and Innovation, and John Pederson wrote recently about the ACT of change vs the decision TO change... Reading all these things, talking about these ideas via twitter, blog comments, skype has really created a lot of "stuff" in my head...
So this post for me serves many purposes...
1. to remind me..remind us ALL, that these IDEAS are not new...but the tools we have to implement them are and we are going to need to do a lot of supporting of kids and teachers to use these tools in ways that support 21st Century Skills.
2. to get start thinking, and DISCUSSING what is needed to move forward, push the envelope, innovate...or make changes
3. finally to recognize the folks in my blogroll and twitterfeed that have reminded me how exciting it is to be a lifelong learner...Thanks to my local, virtual, and global "colleagues". This summer has been inspiring for me--I can't wait to share all I have learned with the kids, teachers, and administrators with whom I will work this year.
HAPPY NORTHERN HEMISPHERE NEW YEAR :)

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