Brian C. Smith's Profile

That message must resonate with parents and school administrators, they say, if local school districts are to expand their computer science programs.

She even took a summer job at Disneyland as a “cookie artist,” painting designs and Mickey Mouse faces on baked goods, because she was allowed to spend a few days with Disney’s animators.

why can’t we be RCS, just better?

“It’s not about engagement. A TV show can be engaging. It’s about empowerment and meaningful work.”

We need more work as a system to make it happen consistently and with planning and for every child in every classroom.

True empowerment comes when students take the skills they have learned in classrooms and apply them to ends of their own creation.

The tools to achieve John Dewey’s dream of what schools can be are in place, but schools must embrace the opportunity to harness the 21st century tools and marry them to a more progressive pedagogy to put the responsibility—and the joy—of learning and creation into the students’ hands.

If the only thing that schools do with Internet and computer technologies is create a system that has more-efficient ways to deliver content and has predetermined objectives, all they will have done is repeat the mistakes of the 1950s, when the common thought was that TV would revolutionize schools by delivering the best content in the world. Instead, we as a society need to understand what schools can be if they become transparent through the use of 21st century tools. When the classroom, the teacher at the front of the room, and the school library are not the be-all and end-all of gaining information, schools can become truly inquiry driven.

Schools have gone from information scarcity to information overload. This is why classes must be inquiry driven. Merely providing content is not enough, nor is it enough to simply present students with a problem to solve. Schools must create ways for students to come together as a community to ask powerful questions and dare them to bring all of their talents to bear on real-world problems.

Collaboration does not have to be limited to time spent in class or be bound by geography. Students can use instant messaging; text messaging; course management software; and collaborative writing tools, such as Google Docs, to work together at all hours of the day. The idea of community has changed dramatically in the past 10 years, and that idea should be reflected in classrooms.

But it is not enough for educators to simply be aware of social networking; they have an obligation to teach students the difference between social networking and academic networking.

The ground is shifting under everyone’s feet as schools hustle to catch up to the changes in society. But those changes, although difficult, have brought school communities to a moment in time when they can rethink what they can be. Schools can and must be transformative—when they encourage kids to harness the new tools at their disposal to create real work of meaning, students can be authentic voices in the world.

In the end, it is time to stop thinking of school as preparation for real life and instead show students that the time they spend in school can be a vital and enriching part of their very real and very important lives.