Creating a Path for Learning in the 21st Century

The world we live in. Friday (last week at the National Social Studies Conference) morning I attended a panel discussion with three childrens authors. Annette Laing was speaking about her books (The Snipesville Chronicles) and how wicked the characters she created in her books. She gets us to think about characters that capture our kids imagination on television, characters in books that capture kids imagination (Harry Potter Series, the Secret Diary of a Wimpy Kids, etc.) Our kids are reading so about weird and wicked characters and their imagination are being charged. Think about Sponge Bob Square Pants! They use the Internet to read and learn about real things and some are secretly reading and writing fiction online. Most kids are playing video games, Nintendo, etc and getting so much instant feedback from their hours of immersion. Then they have to come to school and get in a different frame of mind for artificial content to be delivered. It is a hole different mode of thinking. Another sign of the changed world!