“The amount of time our son is being required to spend memorizing whether Bismarck is the capital of North or South Dakota will dwarf the total amount of time he would spend in his lifteime looking it up at Google. This is information that adds nothing to this comprehension of the world. ” – David Weinberger
You’re right: That is a very “duh” point. But that’s *his* point: It’s a “duh” matter, but the schools still have kids memorize stuff like that.
Sure, knowledge is important, but maybe the line between “know it” and “know how to find it” needs to be shifted. (Does what I just said make even a bit of sense? It sounded good in my melon.)
It’s bigger than that, I think. We need to teach children not only how to find the knowledge, but also how to assess the source. Critical thinking is the most important thing we could teach our children in schools.