This week I was at a seminar titled Glasgow Teacher Education 2014. We were asked in our groups to think of a word that we felt represented teachers for the 21st century. Along with this word we had to think of two associated words. These were then typed into Wordle.net to produce an image similar to the one above.
This caused some amusement to those in the room who had not seen Wordle before and some were keen to use it in different contexts (their own classes/lectures).
Now as a starting activity for a seminar it was reasonably interesting, but it occurred to me to be a missed opportunity. It was also an example of style over substance.
Let me explain my disappointment with this activity. To start with each individual could write three words on a post-it and submit it for inclusion in the wordle. I myself gave the task some thought. My first choice was 'flexible'. The two associated words were 'mind' and 'body'. My thinking was that a teacher for the 21st century should be flexible in mind and body. I thought about it for a few seconds and changed my initial choice to 'agile'.
After all the words had been submitted a word cloud was generated and the words that had the greatest frequency of use appeared largest on the screen. I scanned the screen to see my cleverly chosen words. They were the smallest and most insignificant on the screen.
Wordle had been used to select the promote the most common obvious words suggested by the group. Not the unusual or challenging words. Not the words that might challenge the orthodoxy but the words that represent it.
Now I don't want to criticise Wordle because I can see that it's a useful tool. My criticism is in the way it was used to cleverly re-inforce the collective opinion of the needs of the teacher for the 21st century.
But it does make me think wouldn't it be interesting if Wordle had an inverse proportion option that pulled out the key words that were important but rarely used? Ultimately it comes down to those presenting the seminar to explore the use, meaning and choices of the participants to explore the deeper understanding.
Feel free to post your choice of words that represent the teachers for the 21st century. Remember to give the reasons for your choice.
Feel free to post your choice of words that represent the teachers for the 21st century. Remember to give the reasons for your choice.







