When I read this line: "stories are easier to remember - because stories are how we remember," a lot clicked for me. Teaching using big ideas means teaching with story. Curriculum without story is simply an assemblage of facts, and facts alone, as Pink pointed out are extremely difficult to remember. We need to teach our students through memorable experiences, which will later become stories. Wow!
At the intersection of high concept and high touch, we find story. Story is high concept because of its innate ability to offer deeper understanding of one thing in the context of something else. It is high touch because of its emotional appeal.
It seems difficult for me to imagine a world that does not readily present any and every fact. I grew up with the internet, it came to life just as I began to write my own name. I remember being amazed by the online encyclopedias and being able to search for images of far away lands. The internet gave me the opportunity to explore my early interests. I wonder how my interests would have developed had I not had access to endless information. One of the most intersting things about the information age, to me, is that now people are regular creators and recorders of information. The majority of students regularly engage with sites that let them record the content of their lives. I envision that one day historians will write a large part of the history of our times based on the expression of the people. That is a big idea.
Living in an age that has an abundance of information and access to it, it seems that all children should be able to receive a great education. Most ikids seem to LOVE technology. Are we waiting for technology that engages students and makes learning fun? Could we break the cycle by giving children constant access to information and learning? I remember in my field experience watching the teacher allow kids with limited technology at home use the computers whenever they had free time so that they could play academic games. The kids seemed to love this. I wonder what educational computer applications would look like if Steve Jobs had created a series? :)
At the intersection of high concept and high touch, we find story. Story is high concept because of its innate ability to offer deeper understanding of one thing in the context of something else. It is high touch because of its emotional appeal.
It seems difficult for me to imagine a world that does not readily present any and every fact. I grew up with the internet, it came to life just as I began to write my own name. I remember being amazed by the online encyclopedias and being able to search for images of far away lands. The internet gave me the opportunity to explore my early interests. I wonder how my interests would have developed had I not had access to endless information. One of the most intersting things about the information age, to me, is that now people are regular creators and recorders of information. The majority of students regularly engage with sites that let them record the content of their lives. I envision that one day historians will write a large part of the history of our times based on the expression of the people. That is a big idea.
Living in an age that has an abundance of information and access to it, it seems that all children should be able to receive a great education. Most ikids seem to LOVE technology. Are we waiting for technology that engages students and makes learning fun? Could we break the cycle by giving children constant access to information and learning? I remember in my field experience watching the teacher allow kids with limited technology at home use the computers whenever they had free time so that they could play academic games. The kids seemed to love this. I wonder what educational computer applications would look like if Steve Jobs had created a series? :)
I liked that first quote as well when I reading the chapter. I didn;t think about it before that, but when you remember a day you generally go through the day chronologically, like a story, to get to a certain point. That is how we remember. Kind of like you have to sing the entire alphabet to figure out that P is after O.
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