Mindlab - Mind Blown!

So this is it - the first week of a new journey starting the Post Graduate Certificate in Applied Practice through Unitec's Mindlab.  Well have I got a thing or two to learn!

I may need to do a lot of catch up on how to use my devices...  and some of the software on my computer.  Heck - just getting this jolly blog going is scary enough.

So the task as I understand it is to set up a blog for reflection on the readings, class sessions and my own practice as a teacher.

The first session confirmed something I have felt for some time which is that knowledge and what we consider to be a knowledgeable person has changed.  I love the "knowlege as a verb" concept.  As the first in my family to attend university, I have been surounded by plenty of trades people and creative forward thinking people who, under a traditional definition, would not have been thought "knowledgeable".  My father can fix anything.  I cosider him to be one of the most knowledgeable people I know.  If he doesn't know how to do something he looks it up (at the public library, talking to others who know or, recently, on the internet) and he gets stuck in and has a go.

I also have two children, girls, one 7 and one 10.  Miss 10 is in the 'chromebook' class at school.  I have to admit that I was sceptical at first that it was the right decision.  However, lately she has started to use her nouse and look for solutions to problems -usually on the internet.  (Turns out you can find a you-tube video on how to do about anything!) This is in stark contrast to the same child a year ago who would expect me to sort it out for her.  Is it making her more knowledgeable?  I think so.  Her spelling is shocking, she can't sort out long algarythyms very well.  But there is spell check and calculators for that.  As long as she has a rough idea that the answer the calculator spits out is about what the number shoud be then she will be fine.

So heres to the future of education.  To changes in my thinking, practice and even the way I approach raising my kids.  My mind is pretty blown with the scope of the new information we will be covering in the coming weeks and how I can integrate this into my life.  But its exciting.  Challenge on!