Revising my Infodiet

Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching., a photo by deeplifequotes on Flickr.

Although the internet offers a tremendous amount of information, it can be a challenge to sift through the junk to get to the good stuff. It matters what we put into our bodies for food and for information because we know these things affect us physically and mentally. We have to remember “that humans are not oriented toward truth but to meaning” (Gee, 2013, p. 133). We gravitate toward people, ideas, and concepts that we connect with or are similar to our own. While this may be comfortable, it does not provide an accurate view of a world that is vastly diverse.

Unfortunately, my current infodiet is minimal and not very diverse. It consists of a local news channel website, Facebook, and occasionally Twitter. This would be equivalent to eating only apples, bacon, and chocolate for every meal each day. While these are my favorite foods, I am missing some important vitamins and of course, variety and balance in my meals. To add a little color to my infodiet I decided to look for an assortment of people and organizations on Twitter that will expose me to new viewpoints and ideas, ones that I would not normally encounter.

The first group of new information sources I found all have to do with Google in some way. Recently our corporation purchased Android tablets for all the teachers and I am trying to learn as much as I can about them so I can share what I learn with my colleagues. I am now following @GooglePlay and @GoogleEduTeam to stay up to date with any new developments. Google Play is poised to come out with more education apps this summer. Here is an article with more information.

My next group of new resources is focused on general education and technology. They include @WeAreTeachers and @TheConsultantsE. These are two great resources for tech and teaching tips. I am most excited to start following Nicholas Provenzano @thenerdyteacher. He is the 2013 MACUL Technology Using Teacher of the Year and the 2013 ISTE Outstanding Teacher of the Year. I love the banner on his blog! It includes cartoon robots and the words teacher, leader, learner, and nerd. That pretty much sums up my career in education! Plus his most recent post is about Star Wars. What’s not to love?

The last group of new resources deal with language. Language is what I do in the classroom all day long and a new perspective would be helpful. I found @onestopenglish which provides frequent links to resources and professional development opportunities for English teachers. Finally, my goal for next school year is to get more parents and families involved at our school. Language can still be a barrier but I think @ColorinColorado will be able to help with that. Their updates provide resources tailored for language learners, but even cooler is their website: http://www.ColorinColorado.org/. This is a bilingual site for families and educators of English language learners and I am very excited to share this incredible resource with parents!

Revising my infodiet is something that I needed to do and something that needs to be done on a regular basis. In my ever searching journey to find truth AND meaning, I know that broadening my viewpoint and considering alternate possibilities is always going to be a positive part of my life. Knowing more about the world I live in, helps me to understand myself and my place in this world. I hope that I too can help to encourage and expand a community of thinking where learning is always valued.

Works Cited
Gee, J. P. (2013). The anti-education era: Creating smarter students through digital learning. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Martin, R. P. (2013, February 21). [Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.] [Photograph]. Retrieved from Flickr database.

Human Problem-Solving: Our Limitations

In his book, The Anti-Education Era, James Paul Gee analyzes what may cause poor decision-making and a lack of problem-solving skills in humans. Gee (2013) notes that his book is about “...what sorts of creatures we humans are and how we can become better ones” (p. X). Even though our brains are amazing machines that are capable of great things, we limit ourselves to the mediocre and routine because it is easy, comfortable, or we are just plain scared. There is, however, a glimmer of hope about how we can rewire our brains to think and solve problems smartly.

Gee writes compelling arguments throughout Part I that remind us all why humans are so stupid. He reminds us that the use of technological tools does not automatically make us smarter, but in fact can dumb us down if not used properly (p. IX). He goes on to remind us that humans “... are exceedingly good at believing what we want and need to believe, even in the face of counterevidence” (p. 1). We also need to remember how the human brain actually works. “What we store in our head is not ‘the truth,’ but a version of reality as we see it and sometimes as we wish it to be” (p. 22). In addition, our human minds were not built for this modern world. We created culture to help us cope with and explain the strange, and often dangerous realities of our harsh world. We seek power and belonging, and make choices about how we think, value, and behave in order to gain these, often at the expense of other humans (p. 60).

One argument that Gee makes that I find particularly compelling is in Chapter 10. He talks about institutions and frozen thought. These institutions “...exist in part to ‘think for us’” and to organize large groups toward conformity and standardization (p. 85) . These groups are often stuck in time with outdated ideologies that persist simply because we are “...comfortable with what we already know” (p. 87). Unfortunately many schools today fall into the category of institutions with frozen thought. We are still doing school the way it has been done for decades. It is difficult for teachers and staff to continue to do things the same way in our classrooms when we know that today’s students need something different. This causes a conflict between following the curriculum or doing what is best for students. Change is difficult for any group to go through, but things cannot stay the same. We are losing more and more of our students because they simply cannot see the point of an education which is a scary thought indeed.

What does this mean for humankind? Are we doomed to destroy ourselves and our world because we cannot overcome these limitations?

Thankfully there is still hope for humanity. Who or what is our savior? Education. Knowledge is the first step in overcoming any obstacle and Gee’s book offers those willing to act a step-by-step guide to becoming smart. According to Gee, humans need to learn, use, and practice the circuit of reflective action to help us improve our problem-solving and decision-making skills. This circuit includes mentorship, prior experiences, clear goals, meaningful purpose, and the opportunity for action (p. 13). In addition, to overcome our stupidity we must be willing to seek out knowledge that may not be useful immediately. Humans need to embrace innovation, and “...consider possibilities and alternatives” (p. 140). We need to look for knowledge and learning in a variety of sources (p. 144). In addition, we must always remember that we do not live in isolation, but rather as a complex web of billions of connections and relationships. One choice can change everything.

I am eager to read Part II to find out what solutions Gee proposes to fix humanity’s stupidity epidemic. We must remember “...education as a force for drawing out of each of us our best selves in the service of an intellectually and morally good life and good society” (p. XIV). If we can learn anything from our stupidity, hopefully it can be how to overcome it to make a better life for all of us.