Awake and Alive in Learning

I think I really am going to go cross-eyed staring at my computer for so long.
As I am navigating all of these new tools and websites, reading articles, I am trying to figure out how to get students to be active learners. The biggest challenge sometimes is to inspire intellectual curiosity. The need to “know more” is such an integral part of what it means to be an academic. Since I teach mostly juniors I often think about how best to prepare them for the college world and today it hit me.

I have to get students to a place where they are excited about learning. I just finished reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Thinking about this book and this course and subsequently, my students, I know that the most memorable people are those who never lose the love of learning. People that are constantly looking for knowledge are the ones who will succeed. I am always trying to get my young journalists in particular to really look at the world with their minds, eyes, and ears open.

RSS feeds just might be another way to allow students practice with that idea. If I taught each one of my students how to use Google Reader and sign up for subscriptions, I would be able to get them to stay current on topics of their choice. I wonder if my students have used Google News or Reader. I think students are familiar with social networks, but maybe they have not yet used them for intellectual pursuits. We could take our Current Events discussions to a whole new level if students were tracking a particular interest and reporting on all the new updates each week.

What I need to focus in on is how to present this in an organized manner so that students have limited frustration with the technology. If I am able to do that, these new Web 2.0 tools could have very satisfying results.