Michael Wesch, Anti-Teaching (Gerri August 2.0)

Gerri August 2.0 wordle

So, I clearly think there's a link between August and Wesch.  The common thread between the two readings we examined is that student learning happens best in a democratic classroom.  As we have discussed in class, August has shown how this can be accomplished with teacher facilitated dialogicality.  Wesch contends that it can be accomplished with the creation of a non traditional classroom setting (the virtual classroom) and the subsequent inquiry that is naturally  promoted within it (if Wesch read August-or Bakhtin-, maybe he'd call this "student driven" dialogicality).
Some quotes from Wesch,
1.  "I decided to get to work creating a learning environment more conducive to producing the types of questions that create lifelong learners rather than savvy test-takers" (page 1)
2.  "Good questions are the driving force of critical and creative thinking" (page 1)
3.  "The physical structure of the classrooms in which I work simply does not inspire dialogue and critical thinking" (page 2)
4.  "When students recognize their own importance in helping to shape the future of this increasingly global, interconnected society, the significance problem fades away" (page 3)

In quote 1, Wesch recognizes that traditional learning environments are fine for reproducing knowledge as it passes from gneeration to generation.  But with reproduction only, there is no progress.  A non traditional learning environment can transform knowledge as it passes from generation to generation.
In quote 2, Wesch emphasizes that questions, NOT ANSWERS, drive higher order thinking in students.
In quote 3,  Wesch challenges the status quo with the implication that virtual classrooms inspire today's students more than traditional classrooms do.
In quote 4, Wesch is saying that a non traditional classroom would allow students to discover that they are part of something bigger, something their generation can own--the new grand narrative that revolves around kids and their futures.  Once students learn to collaborate productively  in a virtual classroom and realize the benefits of this collaboration, they may then become naturally curious about how many people they could really reach, and subsequently think about how  they can  make a difference.

I think Wesch would consider himself a learner, rather than a teacher, in his "World Simulation".  He appears to me to be an open-minded, humble educator who has put trust in his students.   The power is shifted to all members of  a democratic virtual classroom, and the teacher simply becomes the one who  plants the seed and enjoys watching it grow.  Watering occasionally as needed of course.

As I read Wesch I kept thinking how kids in lower socioeconomic classes might participate if they do not have access to the internet or cell phones outside of school.  The Spring 2011 edition of Teaching Tolerance addresses this (as well as the never-ending and wearisome debate of whether or not we should use Web 2.0 tools in the classroom).   In Getting Past the "Digital Divide" , Sean McCollum writes "For kids to be given a fair shake in a modern economy, they are going to have to be computer literate.  Kids who aren't will be at a terrible disadvantage, especially America's poor children.  And for many of them, school is the only place they'll have the chance to learn it."  If schools can provide the technology and the right teachers, it seems all students can have a voice in a virtual classroom, even if access is limited outside of school---and maybe in this scenario, the socioeconomic differences can become obsolete.
GK