Beloit College Mindset List

This week's Wednesday Web doesn't revolve around a specific teaching practice or skill, but rather deals with mindset. Each year Beloit College in Wisconsin develops and releases a "mindset of the entering college class." The purpose of the mindset list is to help professors get a feel for what the world is like for the incoming freshman, focusing not only on politics but also culture. The preface for the list says the intention is not to make you feel old, but it sure is a trip to read! Below are some of my favorites this year (you'll just have to look at the list to see what they are!): #4, #8, #10, #11, #14, #17, #31, #34, #44, #50, and #73 Click here to see the full Mindset List (FYI, you can also view every list they have put out since 1998).

Staying on the theme of mindsets, here is a great article that lists "50 Things Every 18-Year-Old Should Know" which has sound advice for everyone!


This links to an excellent PDF article on "Teaching the 21st Century Learner." Some of the interesting points I found when reading it:

1. A 21st Century learner tends to be a multi-tasker that uses sound and images to convey their message, and only uses text when they don't have access to something better.

2. The Internet is viewed as the universal source of information.

3. To them, computers aren't technology.

4. We process more information in a 24 hour period than the average person 500 years ago would process in a lifetime (and this article was copywritten in 2006!).

5. Education today must place less emphasis on the amount of material memorized, and more on making connections, thinking through issues, and solving problems.

Finally, below is the video that Mr. Lewis shared with us in a beginning inservice on a Vision of Today's k-12 Learner.