The problem with blind spots is that you don’t know you’ve got them. I mean, it’s obvious to us today that students weren’t going to need a slate or homemade ink in order to be successful. But imagine living in that time. There was no way those people could have foreseen the changes that make us snicker at those statements today.

Might we also be clinging to faulty beliefs about what will make our students successful? But how do we identify them? What beliefs do we throw out? Which ones do we keep? What skills and content are we teaching that will be irrelevant in five years? What tools are we still using that are already outdated?

Clay Shirky, a leading authority on the Internet’s effects, argues that emerging technologies enabling loose collaboration will change the way our society works. In this video, he notes that we are living through “the largest increase in expressive capability in human history.” If this is true, how do we prepare our students for this new, emerging and ever-changing media landscape?

It’s June, and your class is not asking questions about last night’s reading assignment. They read it, but they sit, cold stares hitting you from every direction, and there’s just a week of school left. Don’t just stand there! Put up a parking lot! Read more for an effective (and simple) way to engage your students in discussion – any time of the year!