Out of the Box and Into the World of Learning

Of all our out-of-the-box educational thinkers, I find Michael Wesch among the most engaging. He uses out-of-the-box ways of showing us his ideas and conjectures about cultural and educational change.

How does it differ? He uses his students at Kansas State to share what both he and they are learning. My guess is that these students contribute greatly to his unique message, with their unique massage of it. Here's an example from his youtube site:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9ySxrzpP-g&annotation_id=annotation_593591&feature=iv

There's a lesson here for all of us: invite your students in as fellow teachers and learners. Give them the power, and they will give it back to you as an empowered Classroom Learning/Instruction Community (CLIC).

This CLIC is a new kind of clique and kids will find it way-cool to belong. It will liberate them from the box too.

There is virtually no static syllabus any more. As Wesch, and Marshall McLuhan before him, remind us: the medium and the message are changing right before our eyes.....continuously.

We need more teachers and learners in every classroom. Promote your students to a greater team role. They'll do you proud and promote you right back!