Photo Credit to Scott McLeod on Flickr
I've chosen to reflect upon three of the seven points Mr. Warlick made that I thought stood out.
- There is a natural convergence between the rich information skills of literacy and numeracy, and the information and data that define the content areas.
After reading this section, I began to think about the differences technology has made on both learning and learning environments. The information that is now available to us through networking is astounding. Warlick discusses accessing information and translating it through digital mediums. Years ago he would have been searching through archives in the backs of libraries and supply rooms. It is amazing to think how far we've come, and even more exciting to think about where technology will take us in the future.
- The distinctions between teacher and student begin to blur.
My favorite point made in this section is as follows. "It (literacy) no longer seeks to make readers. It makes master learners, people who can successfully learn, unlearn, and relearn." The rest of this section discusses focusing on the best learning practices as opposed to the best teaching practices. I think this is a wonderful point. All students think, process, and learn differently from one another. Focusing on addressing those differences is KEY in my opinion. There are always differences and acknowledging them leads to success. This point in the article also discusses teaching as a valuable way to learn. I completely agree with this. As a student working in Cornerstone classrooms, I've found that the more classes I attend and the more chapters I attempt to teach the more I pick up. These are subjects I'd thought I'd mastered until I go over them in class and think about them in a whole new way.
- There is less reliance on textbooks and authority, and more reliance on the work of learning.
This portion of the article discusses being an active participant when it comes to learning. Warlick discusses going to school years ago and never questioning his textbooks or teachers. At the time, there wasn't much reason to. Now that the internet exists and is open to all, we have learned to be cautious about what we read and question everything in order to ensure accuracy. The last paragraph to this section was my favorite. Warlick states: "To become literate, students should learn within an information environment that exemplifies today’s information landscape, where discussions of an idea’s validity become part of learning the idea." I love the idea of incorporating validity into lesson plans around the world. It's incredibly important to teach students to formulate their own opinions and do the research necessary to back up their ideas. Without this, learners everywhere would take each statement as is, and failure to explore validity results in failure to learn.
Warlick ends his article with this quote: “In a school that practices learning-literacy, teachers model learning, students learn to teach themselves, and schools educate the community.“ I adore this quote. I find that it sums up every point Warlick discussed throughout in a simple and positive manner. After reading this article in it's entirety, I've already looked into some more of Warlick's work. I'm very impressed!
