“The idea is that we should all be a part of the conversation. So, if nothing else, this is a regeneration of conversation, and at most, a conversational introduction to educational ideas that will change the face of education for the 21st century.”
Foreward by Levi Patrick:
In no uncertain terms, education must be open to change. As a new teacher, I am proud to be a part of the change that is currently taking place in education. In my first year as a middle school math teacher, I learned a great many truths about education. The most important ones now guide me as I pursue my masters at the University of Oklahoma. The first truth is that the students of today are not the same as the students of the past. These are a population of information hungry children and teens who thrive on instant access to information and relevance to their life. The second truth is that the teacher of today is not the same as the teachers of the past. Today’s teachers are not educating students simply to award degrees or to inform the student with information so that it might be used in subsequent courses, but to prepare students for the likely event that they will somehow integrate into the global economy. Teachers of today must be current and relevant, and perhaps most important, they must engage the student. The ideas that are explored on this site take interest in opinions and wisdom of experts in that field in hopes that a fertile ground for growing conversation and initiative to change will be provided. However, the openness and acceptance shown throughout the site are very much dependent on the agreement that these two truths are resounding and must not be ignored.
Quite possibly this site might be seen as a type of slanderous propaganda against prior educational initiatives. Yes, the focus of the site is on change, but it should be made clear that the implication of change as a reference to the failure of the past is not to be entertained. I firmly believe that the world has only come this far through the commitment and ingenuity of those who have come before me. In fact, in conversations concerning the development of this site, it was made a focus of ours to create a reference to the nearly fabled development process of Thomas Alva Edison and his electric light bulb. This relationship is fostered throughout this site in hopes of clarifying the need to understand the past and to, as they say, not throw out the baby with the bath water.
I think we call them “Bright Ideas.” Not because they are unique or necessarily original, but because the development of those ideas into reality will be a guiding light for others.
