Talking About PBL - Project Based Learning

There are so many topics that I find over there and that call my attention while I'm studying for my masters. Too bad I do not have time at the moment to go deeper into them. I have to focus on what really maters to my dissertation as time flies, but keeping those 'extra topics' in mind for later studies seem to be a good idea. One of the things I was seduced by is PBL - Project Based Learning.

Well, it is what it is, the name makes it pretty clear what we are talking about so there is no need to use many words here. To be honest, I have worked with projects in my classes before knowing this strategy had an specific name and treatment in literature. The fact is that it does have and I like it because then we have more people talking about it as a unique thing, discussing results, activities, pros and cons, social impacts and a bunch of other stuff. 

I particularly like working with projects and I see many positive impacts on students when I do that. That's probably why I was so interested in PBL literature when I got to know about its existence. As I said, I could not go much further yet with my curiosity, but I leave here a taste of what I am talking about:

WHAT IS PBL?

Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge. In Gold Standard PBL, Essential Project Design Elements include:

• Key Knowledge, Understanding, and Success Skills - The project is focused on student learning goals, including standards-based content and skills such as critical thinking/problem solving, collaboration, and self-management. 
• Challenging Problem or Question - The project is framed by a meaningful problem to solve or a question to answer, at the appropriate level of challenge.
• Sustained Inquiry - Students engage in a rigorous, extended process of asking questions, finding resources, and applying information.
• Authenticity - The project features real-world context, tasks and tools, quality standards, or impact – or speaks to students’ personal concerns, interests, and issues in their lives.
• Student Voice & Choice - Students make some decisions about the project, including how they work and what they create.
• Reflection - Students and teachers reflect on learning, the effectiveness of their inquiry and project activities, the quality of student work, obstacles and how to overcome them.
• Critique & Revision - Students give, receive, and use feedback to improve their process and products.
• Public Product - Students make their project work public by explaining, displaying and/or presenting it to people beyond the classroom.

WHY PBL?

Project Based Learning’s time has come. The experience of thousands of teachers across all grade levels and subject areas, backed by research, confirms that PBL is an effective and enjoyable way to learn - and develop deeper learning competencies required for success in college, career, and civic life. Why are so many educators across the United States and around the world interested in this teaching method? The answer is a combination of timeless reasons and recent developments.

• PBL makes school more engaging for students. Today’s students, more than ever, often find school to be boring and meaningless. In PBL, students are active, not passive; a project engages their hearts and minds, and provides real-world relevance for learning.
• PBL improves learning. After completing a project, students understand content more deeply, remember what they learn and retain it longer than is often the case with traditional instruction. Because of this, students who gain content knowledge with PBL are better able to apply what they know and can do to new situations.
• PBL builds success skills for college, career, and life. In the 21st century workplace and in college, success requires more than basic knowledge and skills. In a project, students learn how to take initiative and responsibility, build their confidence, solve problems, work in teams, communicate ideas, and manage themselves more effectively.
• PBL helps address standards. The Common Core and other present-day standards emphasize real-world application of knowledge and skills, and the development of success skills such as critical thinking/problem solving, collaboration, communication in a variety of media, and speaking and presentation skills. PBL is an effective way to meet these goals.
• PBL provides opportunities for students to use technology. Students are familiar with and enjoy using a variety of tech tools that are a perfect fit with PBL. With technology, teachers and students can not only find resources and information and create products, but also collaborate more effectively, and connect with experts, partners, and audiences around the world.
• PBL makes teaching more enjoyable and rewarding. Projects allow teachers to work more closely with active, engaged students doing high-quality, meaningful work, and in many cases to rediscover the joy of learning alongside their students.
• PBL connects students and schools with communities and the real world. Projects provide students with empowering opportunities to make a difference, by solving real problems and addressing real issues. Students learn how to interact with adults and organizations, are exposed to workplaces and adult jobs, and can develop career interests. Parents and community members can be involved in projects.

For more information, please access: here.

And there is also a video that explains PBL: here.

> It is interesting to notice that I also found the acronym (PBL) standing for Problem Based Learning, so be careful not to get it mixed up.

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Link para texto em português sobre PBL: clique aqui.

Video para Refletir

Hello, everyone!

Hoje venho compartilhar um vídeo bem humorado que nos faz refletir sobre as necessidades da incorporação das novas tecnologias desde cedo na vida dos alunos do século XXI. Já muito habituados e familiarizados com a internet e seus recursos, seria apropriado que a escola desconsiderasse tal realidade e insistisse em tecnologias ultrapassadas, que nada condizem com o dia a dia de seus alunos?

A incorporação das tecnolgias digitais passa por sérias questões, desde adaptações curriculares até o devido preparo de professores, entre outros. Porém, ainda que não seja uma tarefa fácil, é urgente que se pense e aja no sentido de modernizar o ensino e aproximá-lo das necessidades dos alunos, favorecendo-os a atingir o sucesso no mundo atual. Concordam ou discordam?

Vídeo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJq-x2Vrv8c

(Original taken from the show "Øystein og jeg" on Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK)in 2001. With Øystein Backe (helper)and Rune Gokstad (desperate monk). Written by Knut Nærum)

Why Academic Teaching Doesn’t Help Kids Excel In Life

By Shelley Wright

Academics. Most of our current school system revolves around it, and yet, I think it falls miserably short of what our kids need. To be honest, I think our academic system of education is highly overrated, at best. At worst, it destroys a number of our kids.

Hear me out. I’m not saying that our kids shouldn’t learn to read, or do math, or develop other valuable skills. But too often, the focus of our kids’ school day is Content with a capital C, with little connection to why it matters. Instead of learning together, many of our students spend hours filling in worksheets or copying down lecture notes that they could google in 30 seconds.

Too often the lectures they listen to are boring and irrelevant to their lives. And from my experience, most of this content is simply memorized, spewed out for an exam and then quickly forgotten. But beyond this, there’s often only one right answer, which frequently cultivates in our students a fear of failure.

SCHOOLS VALUE HOOP JUMPING

For the most part, kids who we consider “academic” tend to be good hoop jumpers. They’ve figured out the system and can navigate their way through the predictable demands of the system. But they are seldom truly engaged. Rarely are they transformed by their learning. They’re going through the motions.

I’ve come to realize that being “academic” doesn’t tell you much about yourself. 

Research shows that some of the least engaged students are the highest achievers. Think about that. They do well because they know how to “do school.” Is this really the best we have to offer them?
What if you’re not “academic”? Most of these kids pass through too many years of their young lives feeling like they don’t measure up. Feeling stupid. And for some, it radically alters their trajectory of their adult lives. Unfortunately, too many students have to recover from school once they graduate. Is this really what we want for them?

I USED TO TEACH THIS WAY

In all honesty, I have to admit that I used to believe in this academics-oriented system. For too many years my students sat in straight rows. I asked the questions. I had the answers. I controlled the learning.

The truth is I did this because it’s what I knew. It’s how I’d been trained. It’s what I saw replicated in universities and in other teachers’ classrooms. I sincerely believed that good grades mattered.

I’m an English teacher, and I subscribed wholeheartedly to the belief that the pinnacle of success in English was the ability to write “the essay.” But I’ve radically changed my position. I’ve come to believe that the traditional essay is one of the most useless things we teach our students.

Recently, I’ve started to ask people I know, “Do you ever write an essay?” I’ve never had one person say yes. I wonder how many teachers, except those who are taking university classes (or writing an opinion piece like this), ever write true essays. If I may be so bold, I wonder how many English teachers frequently write essays.

I’m not saying our kids shouldn’t be able to write. On the contrary, I think our students should be able to argue gracefully and persuade powerfully. They also need to know what they believe and why. I simply think the essay is a medium that has outlived its usefulness, at least in high school.

ACADEMICS FOR THE ACADEMICIANS

I’ve come to realize that being “academic” doesn’t tell you much about yourself. It tells you you’re good at school, which is fine if you plan to spend your life in academia, but very few of our students do. It doesn’t indicate whether or not you’ll be successful in your marriage, raising your kids, managing your money, or giving back to your community. All things that matter much more than being good at school.

School should be a place where kids can discover what they love. They should be able to ask the questions that matter to them and pursue the answers. They should discover what they are passionate about, what truly sets their hearts and souls on fire. They should discover they can make a difference now. Above all, they should leave school knowing what they are good at.

Today, I think most kids graduate only knowing if they’re good at school or not. Often our students have many talents; they just don’t fit in our current curriculum because their talents are likely not considered “real knowledge.” And what is that? In the Biology curriculum that I’ve taught for the past several years, one of the objectives that my students need to know is earthworm reproduction. Really? Out of all the things we could be teaching a 17-year-old about biology, someone (a whole panel of someones, we can guess) decided earthworm reproduction was essential?

OUR STUDENTS LOSE THEIR CURIOSITY

We are born curious. Babies explore their environments to learn; they do it naturally without being told. Three-year-olds constantly, at times annoyingly, ask, “why?” And yet, by the time my students arrive in Grade 10, they have all but lost their curiosity. Consequently, when I get a new class of students, we start by unlearning.

We begin by imagining what school could be, instead of what they’ve known for 10 years. Only then can we move into the work that will help them become lifelong learners who truly enjoy the search for answers, rather than the mark at the top of their exam.

Recently I’ve been reading Amanda Lang’s The Power of Why. In it she states:

“Curious kids learn how to learn, and how to enjoy it – and that, more than any specific body of knowledge, is what they will need to have in the future. The world is changing so rapidly that by the time a student graduates from university, everything he or she learned may already be headed toward obsolescence. The main thing that students need to know is not what to think but how to think in order to face new challenges and solve new problems.” (p.14)

LEARNING HOW TO LEARN AND FAIL AND LEARN SOME MORE

Our school system doesn’t need to create kids who are good at school. Instead, we need to create an environment that engages learners, fosters creativity, and puts responsibility for learning where it belongs – with our students.

Instead of rote learning, teachers need to use content to teach skills. We need to build environments that allow our students to get messy and build things. Places where students learn how to learn, and know how they learn best. Where students engage in significant research, and learn how to identify credible resources amidst a plethora of information that, at times, may seem overwhelming.

Furthermore, our students need to be able to problem-solve, innovate and fail over and over again. Throughout all of this, our kids should be collaborating with each other, as well as virtually with students across the globe. They need to be able to communicate powerfully using the mediums of print, photography and video.

THREE QUESTIONS TO GUIDE STUDENT-DRIVEN LEARNING

As I’ve worked with my students, we’ve come to realize they need to be able to answer three questions, regardless of what we’re researching:

• What are you going to learn?
• How are you going to learn it?
• How are you going to show me you’re learning?

How they get to this last question is often their decision. And what they come up with never fails to surprise me.

My classroom hasn’t always looked like this. But over the past three years we’ve shifted to a constructivist pedagogy that has transformed not only my thinking, but my students as well. Now we learn in an inquiry, PBL, tech-embedded classroom.

The journey at times has been painful and messy, but well worth the work. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that my students will often exceed my expectations, if only they’re given the chance.

This post originally appeared on the Powerful Learning Practice blog.

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*(And I found it > here)

Letters to Michael Wesch

Nosso professor da UC Educação e Sociedade em Rede (Mpel), António Teixeira, recomendou quatro vídeos de Michael Wesch que tratam questões relacionadas a educação e tecnologias. Em grupos, fomos incentivados a refletir sobre tais questões e, por fim, deveríamos elaborar comentários a serem enviados ao próprio professor Wesch. Abaixo, seguem os vídeos e os respectivos comentários que eu (Bruna Mazzer Nogueira) e minhas colegas da equipe Sigma, Ivanilda Ramos e Elizabeth Batista, gostaríamos de fazer ao professor.

Vídeo 01 - Students Help Students

Dear professor Wesch,

The video "Students helping Students" has led us to reflect on the social function of education and the mobilizing power of networks.  We believe that actions like this should be encouraged, contributing to the recovery of the social function of education.

Using the network for interaction and dissemination of information exponentially enhances the number of people involved and has much faster and bigger effects. Unlike what many people say on the solitary nature of self-formation stimulated by current technological resources, this experience shows that collaborative networks have great potential and can still mobilize more people for community actions of mutual aid,  strengthening a sense of belonging to a group and the interaction with others that are somehow connected (most of these people have never met each other personally).

While watching this video, we got curious about some aspects,  such as the sustainability of the effects of these actions on human and social education of the students involved in the project. Does the collective and colaborative behavior observed on project execution continue to reverberate in the individual behavior of each young participant? Are these behaviors expanding to other life areas of the participants?

Finally, we would like to congratulate all the people involved in the project for the beautiful and inspiring work. 

Bruna Nogueira, Elizabeth Batista and Ivanilda Ramos

Vídeo 02 - A Vision of Students Today

Dear professor Wesch,

After watching the video "A Vision of Students Today" we decided to write you our comments. We are a group of students from Universidade Aberta (UAB), Portugal. As our master program is named "pedadogy of the elearning", we study the existing connections between education and technology and the video mentioned above shows some ideas that we consider highly important to be discussed nowadays.

Schools all over the world insist on an education that is no longer effective to the 21st century student. The traditional way of teaching and learning may have been appropriate in the past, but the kids of today are born in a completely different scenario and they come to school with such a different background and such different needs when compared to kids from the past. 

The video shows how far schools are getting from what students expect, from their reality, things they are interested in and the way they do things, what includes the way they learn whatever is new. This generation is multitask, interactive, criative, connected, informed. They care about big things such as their future and social problems. Being locked up in a room where they cannot freely interact with the ones besides them nor the world outside is not only boring, but also pointless. The commonly adopted educational ways are tremendously late in understanding their 21st century students and so they are strongly failing in their mission of teaching.

Knowing all that, we still stuck with one question: so why do we insist in doing things the old way?

Well.. this is a kind of question that, in our opinion, is even more important than its answer. Despite all explanation that could be given to this sad reality we are watching at our obsolete schools around the globe, the key for the needed change is probably in the question itself. If we could ask that more often and make teachers, directors of schools, politicians, researchers, parents, kids and everybody else think and talk about it more and more, we could definitely find new ways to make huge improvements in education and so in the world as a whole. 

Said all that, professor, we would like to end up by thanking you for the beautiful work you do and for the opportunity you give us not only of thinking and talking about needed changes in education, but also for the opportunity of having hope in the world still.

Best regards,

Bruna Nogueira, Elizabeth Batista and Ivanilda Ramos

Vídeo 03 - The Machine is (Changing) Us

Dear professor Wesch,

The vídeo 'The Machine is (Changing) us, YouTube Culture and the Politcs of Authenticity' is a record of a speech of your, from 2009, at the 'Personal Democracy Forum'. Here goes a brief summary of what we understood of the speech: 

Currently, there are two trends: on the one hand, the self-affirmation at the expense of civic participation; on the other hand, the fragmentation of individual interests and beliefs. Wesch looks at the analysis of personal relationships in a way that is somehow philosophical, we may say.

He begins by stressing some parallels between '1984' by George Orwell and 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley. He also mentions the book by Neil Postman 'Amusing Ourselves to Death' where the media are not seen as mere means of communication. Marschall McLuhan is quoted with 'We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us'.Wesch also speaks briefly about the impact of some of the features of television as a 'mass media'. 

What leads to an extraordinary adherence to projects like 'American Idol'? Sociologists study the feeling of loneliness and anonymity of people in cities and suburbs, but also in the workplace. It seem, also to be there a lack of connection between people and so it emerges the feeling of being insignificant when not recognized by the others. 

Wesch states that the new media supports the search of ourselves, but also changes the way we do that and, at the same time, changes notions such as authenticity. To whom are we talking when we present ourselves in YouTube or other services like blogs, micro-blogging or social networks? But it seems to be important not how the other sees me but how I will see me in an other moment in Internet. McLuhn called it 're-cognition and new forms of self-awareness'. Wesch observes that people in Internet tend to express a deep self-reflection. 

Wesch continues with the argument that new media make possible a connection without constraints, allowing connections of different ways, building brigdes, communities, creating new forms of self-knowledge. 

Based on all the ideas presented above, we came up with some thoughts that we would like to share with you. 

An example of social change that we are suffering because of the influence of social networks and the Internet is in the language. The Internet communication induced people to simplify writing in order to be more efficient. Abbreviations and symbols are frequently used in informal communication between people. Will future generations know how to write properly or they will be more familiar with the web-language and will not be able to learn the formal spelling. Concerning the language, English is the international Internet idiom. Is the machine promoting the superposition of one culture upon the others? Are we heading to drastic changes on our cultural identities and references that can lead the their extinction? 

About the idea that the internet can sometimes allow us to connect more deeply than ever before, we asked ourselves why the internet makes people feel closer to one another. When we are dealing with a webcam, it seems easy to say everything that comes to mind, including having some kind of intimacy that in real life would be almost impossible. Can this be seen as an approximation with an unknown crowd, intense and even genuine? The one before the Webcam is the real one, does he identify himself with others in the crowd? Admires the other person's courage to expose themselves? Is this another way the machine is changing us? 

If we understood you well, in your opinion, we should have hope for a future in which the individual is not disinterested of public discussion and civic participation and is able to say "Yes, I care, I care about". That's a very positive and exciting way of looking ahead. Thanks!

Your sincerely,

Bruna Nogueira, Elizabeth Batista and Ivanilda Ramos

Vídeo 04 - The Machine is Us/ing Us

Dear professor Wesch,

The video "The Machine is Us/ing Us" shows us the evolution of the Web since the beginning of the html to the present situation, in which we are considered the machine: by clicking on a link to interact on the Internet, we become part of the process. Since the beginning, the use of technology promotes changes in the human's constitution, influencing their behavior, their culture, their social relations and subjectivity. This video aims to make some reflection on how technological innovations change the lifestyle of the post-modern man and the effects it has on what we understand by "human" itself.

The hypertext is not only the creation of a link between texts; the internet is not just a set of connections between texts: the internet connects people, leads them to make business, communicate and interact with others. Therefore, we have to rethink the copyright, ethics and aesthetics, governance, family, love, identity (who we are?).

This video reveals the advantages of digital text when opposed to paper text. While the paper text is linear, digital texts are flexible, offering the opportunity to create hyperlinks with an unlimited ability to scan information and promote knowledge. Web 2.0, favoring a spread of telematic networks, provides means of research as well as the creation of information, supporting autonomy and the possibility of participation and sharing at a planetary level. Covering an open field of issues in all fields of culture, social and education, making it viable through wikis, blogs, interaction and sharing in which everyone can increase specific and enriching knowledge, from mere users the dynamic producers, an interactive creativity. 

In a world of digital networks, it's easy to access information, build new contents and share them with the world. With that in mind, it's possible to understand the urgent need of socializing the importance of intellectual property rights, identity, privacy, in the areas of personal and social life. Web 2.0 comes releasing an unprecedented reality of interaction and communication in which almost everyone can participate without requiring great knowledge.

Therefore, we need to reflect on how technology has changed the way people interact with others. Internet provides new knowledge, much convenience and entertainment, but will it eventually increase the distance of people from the real world? To avoid that, we believe it’s very important that people know how to use it consciously.

Best regards,

Bruna Nogueira, Elizabeth Batista and Ivanilda Ramos

Recensão Crítica

por Bruna Mazzer

Não é incomum encontrarmos ainda hoje pessoas resistentes às tecnologias. Tais pessoas costumam interpretar a influência da internet, dos computadores, dispositivos móveis, redes, etc como sendo negativas e responsáveis por males diversos à sociedade. Dentre suas críticas está, muitas vezes, a questão das perdas nas relações interpessoais: pessoas interagem mais com telas do que com outras pessoas. Alguns acusam as tecnologias de promoverem uma intensificação do sentimento de egoísmo, individualismo, que seria nocivo ao desenvolvimento das sociedades.

Ainda que essas e outras críticas possam ser muito bem defendidas e argumentadas por aqueles reticentes ou contrários às tecnologias, encontramos evidências de um outro lado da mesma moeda, indicando que as tecnologias, e principalmente a rede, podem ser extremamente benéficas à sociedade. Um dos vídeos propostos nessa atividade (vídeo 1 - Student Helping Students) é uma prova de como a solidariedade, a colaboração e a cooperação estão presentes entre os alunos da Universidade de Kansas. Os alunos da universidade organizaram-se a fim de ajudar outros alunos que precisam de apoio financeiro para continuar seus estudos. Porém, as noções de solidariedade ultrapassam a questão financeira e são notadas em diversas situações, como quando ajudaram um colega a estacionar o carro ou a atravessar a rua. A elaboração do vídeo disponibilizado no Youtube e do site com informações sobre o projeto e links para doações foram fundamentais para que a ideia se tornasse mais conhecida, difundida, bem sucedida e, por que não, para que servisse de inspiração a outras pessoas e instituições.

Outro vídeo (vídeo 4 - The Machine is Us/ing Us) também nos remete à questão da solidariedade e colaboração. A utilização das TICs favorece construções de conhecimentos de forma coletiva e interativa e sua não-linearidade está de acordo com a forma pela qual pensamos e agimos hoje. Dessa forma, é possível ver as tecnologias como promotoras e intensificadoras das relações interpessoais e, nesse sentido, o fenômeno da Web 2.0 foi crucial. Essas novas possibilidades de interação, em associação à rapidez com que as informações circulam pelas redes, têm ocasionado profundas mudanças no homem pós moderno e na sociedade na qual ele está inserido. Tais mudanças, porém, são comumente desconsideradas pelas escolas e outras instituições de ensino, tornando-as desinteressantes para seus alunos e constituindo um grave problema atual. O vídeo 2 (A vision of Students Today) explicita bem esta situação.

Michael Wesh, professor associado de antropologia cultural na universidade de Kansas, é famoso por seus métodos e técnicas de ensino inovadores.Em sua apresentação (vídeo 3 - The Machine is (Changing) Us) no Personal Democracy Forum de 2009, no Lincoln Center, ele aborda algumas dessas questões que entrelaçam a realidade tecnológica de hoje, redes sociais, a vida em sociedade, formação da identidade, mudanças culturais, entre outros. Sobre o fato de muitas vezes nos relacionarmos mais com máquinas do que com pessoas propriamente ditas, Wesh mostrou alguns vídeos no estilo "vlog", nos quais pessoas gravam a si mesmas e depois compartilham os vídeos na internet para que outros assistam e comentem. As pessoas gravam a si mesmas como se estivessem dialogando com alguém real, quando, na verdade, estão dialogando com uma máquina. As interações com as outras pessoas que comentarão seu vídeo serão posteriores. Ainda que o diálogo com a máquina intencione a comunicação com outras pessoas reais, talvez fosse pertinente começarmos a analisar a presença constante das máquinas em nossas vidas como responsável por uma mudança de significado e interpretação das mesmas. Não estaríamos vivenciado um período histórico de "personificação" das máquinas? Conversamos intimamente com câmeras, dormimos com nossos aparelhos celulares, desenvolvemos comportamentos afetivos com equipamentos. Temos, por vezes, a tecnologia como parte do nosso próprio corpo, parte de nós. Quantas pessoas vivem com uma perna mecânica ou com um marcapasso, por exemplo?

E não é só isso. As máquinas tantas vezes também comportam-se de forma "humana" ao relacionarem-se conosco. Exemplo disso é o que chamamos de "inteligência artificial". Podemos pensar também em exemplos banais do nosso dia-a-dia, como quando o aplicativo GPS nos diz qual o melhor caminho a se seguir, ou quando damos um comando de voz para o aparelho celular e ele reage atendendo ao nosso pedido ou, ainda, quando estamos lendo um texto e a máquina faz a rolagem automática da tela. Estariam máquinas e homens fundindo-se em algum nível? 

Na verdade, são muitas as reflexões que os vídeos podem nos proporcionar. Caberia aqui uma análise quase infinita, mas, particularmente, interessa-me voltar o olhar para as questões educacionais. É preciso pensar em como todas essas mudanças na sociedade, no homem, na forma de agir, pensar e construir conhecimento nos leva à necessidade de se reformular a forma pela qual a educação vem sendo praticada. É notável que há muito trabalho a ser feito e que já estamos atrasados nessa tarefa.

Resposta e Complementação

por Elizabeth Batista

Oi Bruna,

Sua síntese sobre os vídeos foi muito feliz ao abordar os principais pontos de reflexão trazidos para debate do grupo.

O conteúdo dos vídeos demonstra como a sociedade em rede tem transformado de forma substancial as práticas educativas, permitindo, por meio das diversas mídias disponíveis, aumentar a interatividade, partilha e construção colaborativa entre as pessoas.

Como ressaltado por você, há de se reformular as práticas educativas, de modo a acompanhar todas estas transformações. O vídeo “A vision of students today” mostra claramente as dificuldades enfrentadas pelas instituições educacionais que não se apropriaram das novas tecnologias e não as integraram às atividades educativas. Em muitos contextos escolares ainda se proíbe o uso de celulares e outros aparelhos que possam “distrair” os estudantes durante as aulas, considerando a tecnologia um “inimigo” do processo de aprendizagem. No entanto, já vislumbramos experiências bem sucedidas de escolas que trazem para dentro de sala os recursos tecnológicos e que já se apropriaram das benfeitorias que a interatividade via rede podem oferecer.

Vivemos um momento de transição, em que temos ainda como professores pessoas que não são “nativos digitais” e que foram submetidas a uma formação tradicional, onde o professor era a fonte única do conhecimento formal. De certo, este conflito é esperado, quando temos jovens nas escolas, “nativos digitais”, em perfeita harmonia com a tecnologia e seu “modus operandi”. A construção coletiva e o acesso imediato a várias fontes de conhecimento, via hiperlinks, que permitem ao estudante a leitura dinâmica e não linear de assuntos diversos, passa a concorrer com a visão tradicional de educação. O vídeo “The Machine is us/ing us” explora exatamente esta a dinâmica dos hiperlinks e das possibilidades de construção colaborativa por meio do uso dos recursos da rede.

Na palestra do professor Mike Wesch (vídeo “The machine is (changing) us”) ele fala de uma questão muito interessante que éthe media are not just tools. Ele ressalta a função de mediação de nossas conversas exercida pelas mídias. Elas não seriam apenas ferramentas, mas sim meio que permite a interação entre pessoas independente de suas localizações geográficas. Compreender esta questão posta pelo professor Wesch, ajuda a desmistificar a interação via rede, possibilitando a superação da premissa que a rede tende a nos tornar mais egoístas e menos sociáveis.  No âmbito educacional, este entendimento possibilitará aos professores uma prática de ensino que motive, mobilize e gere interesse nos alunos para um aprendizado efetivo.

Por fim, um último aspecto a ser debatido é a “função social da educação”. O vídeo “Students helping students”, que mostra uma experiência na universidade do Kansas, exemplifica como as redes podem potencializar os efeitos destas ações. Ao contrário do que muitos ainda argumentam, sobre o caráter solitário da auto-formação potencializada pelas redes, esta experiência mostra que as redes podem mobilizar ainda mais pessoas para ações comunitárias e ajuda mútua.

Como Bruna afirma em sua síntese, há muito a ser feito, principalmente no que tange a capacitação de profissionais de educação para esta nova realidade, mas já temos experiências inspiradoras e que servem de exemplo para todos nós educadores.