Learning by heart is ‘pointless for Google generation’ | ScribeMedia.org

Learning by heart is ‘pointless for Google generation’

by Curtiss P. Martin on December 4, 2008 in Blogs

Filing this in the ‘Yikes!’ department:

Don Tapscott, author of the best-selling book Wikinomics and a champion of the “net generation”, suggests a better approach would be to teach children to think creatively so they could learn to interpret and apply the knowledge available online.

The Canadian business executive said: “Teachers are no longer the fountain of knowledge; the internet is.

“Kids should learn about history to understand the world and why things are the way they are. But they don’t need to know all the dates.

“It is enough that they know about the Battle of Hastings, without having to memorise that it was in 1066. They can look that up and position it in history with a click on Google.”

Thoughts?

Curtiss P. Martin

Now an NYC refugee, Curtiss P. Martin serves as a contributing editor of all things clean and green at ScribeMedia. When he isn’t out on the road or in the field researching and reporting on controversial science and tech topics, Curtiss can be found communing with the creative kids at the Elsewhere artist collaborative in Greensboro, NC.

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December 04, 2008 at 7:29 pm, Anna said:

Not so much am I concerned about the removal of inscripted dates from the childrens minds as I am the removal of the teacher from a central role in childrens hearts. Perhaps true the internet is the new fountain of knowledge, but I worry about it’s threat to landslide into substitute parent.

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