I get the overwhelming feeling from my students, colleagues, and administrators that these new technologies are too ambiguous and almost frightening in the potential for change. I am having more and more students e-mailing me and asking for more defined descriptions and examples of what I am looking for in a paper or project.
While on the one hand, I applaud the fact that they are asking (at least they don't feel intimidated by making sure they are on the right track), I also am scared that we are creating a generation of learners (and that society is already there) that is afraid to think outside of the box. In the last decade the number of new patents on new products (as opposed to modifications of existing products) has decreased. Is this the result of being afraid to take chances and think outside of the box? While I see technology and its use becoming more and more innovative, I don't see a reciprocal change in our curriculum, learning, or society. Will this mean that only a small group will be the change makers? Can we make people more comfortable in extending their horizons in all environments? How, if the assessment will be RIGHT or WRONG?
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