Global Computing

University of Michigan teacher of the year Elliot Soloway has some interesting quotes in a recent interview with Robert Scoble. Some of Soloway's notable students include Larry Page,co-founder of Google, and Tony Fadel, known as the “Father of the ipod”. Scoble asked what teaching strategy Soloway uses, “ I help them do what they want to do instead of telling them what to do, I don't tell them what to do” said Soloway. In the traditional class room is totally contained and separated from the world. Teachers need to learn to bring in the outside world. Global computing is what kids are doing already outside of school, why not inside of school? The revolution is coming. The world is demanding that schools be different."

In a recent Newsweek article Jessica Bennet identifies how everyday citizens (students?) can use wikis to take part in world issues.

• The United Nations Global Compact Office is “enlisting the public in its review of progress reports from more than 2,000 companies—an effort to make sure each is complying with established social and environmental guidelines”
• “The nonpartisan WikiCongress—a user-generated Capitol Hill founded by former U.S. congressional staffers—lets the public vote on bills, create petitions and propose new policy, and then forwards the results to legislators. "
• An open conversation, Habitat Jam, was “hosted recently by the nonprofit Globe Foundation in preparation for the third session of the World Urban Forum, a gathering of leaders to discuss the impact of global urbanization. During a three-day digital discussion, hundreds of thousands of people from 191 countries engaged in issues ranging from safety and security to improving the lives of slum dwellers. In India, women participated through moderators who went into communities to seek their views, while in Kenya, people waited hours for computer access so they could have a say. "The results of the discussion were included in the forum's agenda."

Wikinomics coauthor Don Tapscott says, "All these applications, however, have only tapped part of wiki's potential. Imagine millions of people connecting with world leaders and thinkers to discuss debate and collaborate on everything from global politics to climate change. wikis have the potential to spawn new models for international problem solving and dialogue, increase transparency in government and open communication between citizens and policymakers.”

And Carolyn Foote asks,
“As these tools move into the mainstream, how can schools still block blog sites or wiki sites from student use? Will we really be preparing our students for the world they live in outside of school, the workplace, or future where information is “transparent” if we don’t allow them to utilize them as part of the learning process?”

And at our university we have some great examples: Journ 475 WSU’s ePortfolio Contest
Isn't it worth a try to design learning activities that emerse the student in the real issues of the world and the tacit elements of cross cultural communication? This would seem to be a much more authentic assessment of knowledge and skills. At the very least we could think about preparing our students for this type of collaboration.

In the words of Grant Wiggins:
"…if we are to are serious about empowering students, we must get them to worry about audience in a deeper way, we must demand that their work be effective. We must demand that it actually reach the audience and accomplish its intended purpose. There is nothing more foolish, in my view than saying, “Write a persuasive essay” without making students persuade anybody of anything. So let us set up situations in which the student has to persuade readers, or at least get judged by an audience on more that just accuracy”