A new pedagogy

Will Richardson, in his blog, http://weblogg-ed.com/, (accessed 9/23/09) reflects on the effects of bureaucratic rules concerning the access and use of school computer resources. The concern he expresses, and I share, is that these rules, and an attempt to keep students safe, don’t address the core skills needed for our students to remain safe within the cyber world. First of all, anyone who has been an adolescent, raised an adolescent, or has met one, knows that setting out a list of forbidden activities is one of the surest ways of insuring that students will attempt to defeat those barriers. I am reminded of a conversation with my 16 year old nephew. He was discussing the joy he and his friends had breaking into his high school’s password protected wi-fi system, which was meant to serve the teachers only. He said they changed the password every few days, and it typically took him and his friends at most several minutes to figure out the new password. He discussed encryption patterns and code breaking skills that clearly outstretched both my knowledge, and his teachers. With this level of sophistication in our youth, how could we possibly think we can set up fire walls, software baby sitters, or any other either human or technological supervision that could monitor and enforce restrictions in access on the web. On the contrary, we should be talking to our students about all the inappropriate content that is out there, how to try to avoid it, and what to do if they encounter it. One of the greatest gifts we can give to our youth is the ability to think critically, and make good decisions. Learning to make good decisions requires practice, and allowing youth to experience technology and the web with the coaching and support of teachers, to learn to use it wisely and safely, is a practical step in preparing our children for the future.