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 * Will Richardson’s Big Shifts:**

In the book __Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms__, Will Richardson discusses ten “Big Shifts” he believes are happening in education. They are:
 * 1: Open Content
 * 2: Many, Many Teacher, and 24/7 Learning
 * 3: The Social, Collaborative Construction of Meaningful Knowledge
 * 4: Teaching Is Conversation, Not Lecture
 * 5: Know “Where” Learning**
 * 6: Readers Are No Longer Just Readers
 * 7: The Web as Notebook (or Portfolio)
 * 8: Writing Is No Longer Limited to Text
 * 9: Mastery Is the Product, Not the Test
 * 10: Contribution, Not Completion, as the Ultimate Goal

Tim Berners-Lee’s proposal, //Information Management: A Proposal//, presented an innovative idea for organizing and sharing information through a “web” ([|Information Management: A Proposal] ). It is needless to say that Berners-Lee’s vision of the “web” was a success. His idea has evolved into the World Wide Web we use today and it still does what he had intended it to do, organizing and sharing of information. In the beginning getting information onto and from the Internet was difficult, but that has drastically changed over time. The Internet eventually became extremely fast and easy to use. The quantity of information online therefore became limitless. Therefore, the Internet became a quick and easy way of finding any type of information. Educators eventually saw the potential power of the Internet within education and the shifts began. Richardson writes, “In many ways, these technologies are demanding that we reexamine the way we think about content and curriculum, and they are nurturing new, important shifts in how best to teach students” (Richardson 131). **Big Shift #5: Knowing “Where” Learning** Why should students memorize facts and formulas that can be easily found on the Internet? Will Richardson’s fifth “Big Shift”, Know “Where” Learning, came about when educators realized the answer to that question was: there is none. Know “Where” Learning therefore emphasizes, as dictated by the name, teaching students where to find a fact or formula instead of making them memorize it. In this form of learning it is necessary for teachers and students to understand how to use the different methods of finding sources of information on the Web and to be able to tell which sources are credible (Richardson 133). Knowing “Where” Learning is justified by the how easily a students can find what they need online. Almost any information a student may want can be found online, but the student still has to be able to find it quickly. There are a variety of different methods of for finding particular information online. A couple examples of this would be using a basic Google search or using a social bookmarking website like Delicious. This is what the teacher is expected to help the student with. A teacher must be familiar with these methods so that they can show the students how to use them. The Internet’s size and accessibility comes at a cost. There is so much information available online because of the development of a wide variety of easy Internet publishing tools (Richardson 2). In other words, there is a lot of information online because it is now easy for anyone to put information online. Teachers need to be able to teach their students which sources of information are credible and which are not. If this is not done then a student could encounter incorrect facts or formulas and believe them to be true. Consider this exaggerated example: compare this search result for “United States of America” on Wikipedia, ([|Wikipedia - United States] ), to this search result for “United States of America” on Uncyclopedia, ([|Uncyclopedia - United States] ). The first search engine gives accurate information on the country whereas the second is simply a source of false facts about it meant to be entertaining. In name and appearance the two sites are very similar which could fool a young student if they are not properly informed on how to recognize a credible site.
 * Why Did They Occur?**
 * What Is It?**

This is an important shift in education because it makes learning more productive for students. With the growth of information came a growth of what must be learned. Some of the things expected of the children considered to be high achieving students today are that they know how to read by the end of kindergarten, that they know about certain scientific facts and ideas like DNA in middle school, and that they know at least pre-calculus by the time they finish high school. Each year, more and more has been asked of students because each year, there is more information to be learned. This trend is likely to continue but like in everything else, there is a limit to how much a human can memorize. The Know “Where” Learning shift helps students with this overload of information. The time spent by a student memorizing a formula can be better spent learning a new concept.
 * Why Is It Important?**

In the real world every businessman and researcher has access to the Internet. This means that if they cannot remember some fact or formula they can use the Internet to find whatever it is that they need in an instant. So by allowing students to find the information they need online we are not taking away from their capacity to be successful later in life. We see today that on standardized testing some of the math problems that require formulas come with the necessary formula. When speaking to some of the students at High Tech High they told me that they did not use textbooks. Instead the teacher lectures and sometimes hands out photocopies of books. I obviously asked well then how do they find the information they need wasn’t on the photocopies? They told me either the teacher tells them or they look it up online. Schools like High Tech High are perfect examples of a schools already Shifting towards Know “Where” Learning. I believe most college campuses are also great examples of places where this shift can be seen. Consider my personal experience at UCSD. At UCSD every student has access to the Internet inside and outside of the classroom. Some students do not even buy the books required for their classes because they can often find everything they need online. This saves them hundreds of dollars. I often find myself using the Internet to complete homework assignments when what I need is not in the textbooks. All of these things show that college students know that all the information they need is online and know where it is online. So what does the school expect of the students? They expect the students to spend less time memorizing formulas. Most of my professors allow students to use cheat sheets where they can write any formulas they may need on exams. This is the direction I expect learning of all levels to begin heading in.
 * Where Can Some Changes Already Be Seen?**

A report released by the U.S. Department of Education that analyzed Internet use by students in 2003 found that about 23 percent of students had by nursery school and that percentage grew to 79 percent of students using the Internet in grades 9-12 ([|Computer and Internet Use by Students in 2003] ). The data shows that students begin and grow accustomed to using the Internet at a young age. It is safe to assume that these percentages have increased since 2003. Children’s familiarity with the Internet will continue to grow. This combined with the growing availability of the Internet inside classroom will result in more changes towards the where. So why not let the students use the skills they have already acquired in Internet use? The issue is that not every student has access to the Internet but with time more will have access which will lead to a growing influence of Know “Where” Learning. A major difference between public schools, grades K-12, and schools like HTH and college campuses is the availability of computers and the Internet. The latter two have computers and Internet available to all students, which is why I think we see a greater influence of Know “Where” Learning. The number of computers and the availability of the Internet are growing in all schools though. I feel that all schools are heading in the direction of HTH as technology gets cheaper and more advanced. That means that those schools will also start turning towards Know “Where” Learing.
 * Why Will It Continue To Grow?**

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