When Will talks about each student needing to learn how to self-direct their own learning, I thought about the reading in Warlick where he addresses the issue of using copyrighted music and then being force to go back and learn how to add music to his presentations without using someone else's music. In the same way, our children need to learn how to do these same things - direct their own learning. I am sure that having to go into the computer and figure out how to make music to add to a presentation was a greater learning experience than if he had sat in a classroom somewhere and had someone spoon-feed the information to him.

Will also talks about getting over the idea that we, as teachers, are the sole content experts in the classroom. With the web our students now have so many more areas to choose from - each website directing them to many more websites and much more information than we could ever fit into a lifetime, let alone a school year. The information they get from this source will be the information that will help them become part of the "Information Age where the raw material is information". Warlick says that we need to teach our children to build with information, and we cannot do that if we continue to think of ourselves as the sole content experts within our classroom.

Also, Will talks about getting past the idea that we know more than our students - nothing could be further from the truth, especially when I look at the information out there - imovies, podcasts, etc. Kids know how to access the information, and that makes them smarter than I will ever be. It also puts them in the driver's seat when it comes to the new "information-driven future" where - as Warlick puts it - "what our children know will be less important than what they can do with it". I think most kids are already two arms and one leg up on most of us as teachers, or soon-t0-be teachers, when it comes to knowing what to do with the information that is available to them on the web.

Darlene