The interface couldn’t be easier! I’m anxious to check out the Picnik extension for Firefox too. I appreciate the fact that it will connect with “already online” pics you have in Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, etc – or allow you to upload a local image for editing. Once you’ve made your changes you can save the resulting file locally. I tried Picnik with a photo I had from NASA’s web gallery and I’m already hooked on the Orton-ish effect!

In a time when everyone wants your contact information Picnik allowed a surprising range of functionality without the need for an account. I’m sure I will create an account here (probably after I complete this post) but it’s refreshing to know I don’t need to. Account status allows you to archive your work on site, and purchase products created with your pics. I’m sure every grandparent would love a present wrapped in paper that features their grandchildren! You can even get your mugshots printed on a mug.

Amidst all the options one pressing question about Picnik comes to mind, “Do I show this to my teenage daughter?”. She’ll love it, but the rest of our family will only be able to use our computer when she’s asleep or out of the house

Although Willard Daggett advises “evolution, not revolution” I want change to come quickly! I know this will not be the case, so what I really want is to invest time, energy and resources in a manner that produces an authentic difference in what we do.

 That leads me to the notion of how we spend our “curricular energy”. I wonder if we’re putting tremendous effort in the wrong direction. If US students suddenly surged to become the highest math achievers of any nation in the world would they have any better chance of landing a job when competing in a global economy? As professor Young Zhao asked in a conference in July, “what knowledge is most valuable?”. I parapharse the question for the title of this post.

Seymour Papert points to the same issue in The Children’s Machine: Rethinking School In The Age Of The Computer. On page 63 he observes, “Progressive educators do not see themselves as offering an alternative way for students to learn the same list of items of knowledge. They value a different kind of knowledge.”

Before I get a record number of (angry) comments I want to acknowledge the tension between core curriculum and 21st century skills/knowledge. I am not saying we should suddenly abandon our core curriculum (not completely anyway). I’m saying we have tipped the balance heavily in it’s favor – for far too long. Depth, not breadth, is a must!

So what do you know? What kinds of knowledge matter most? How can our outdated, yet deeply entrenched, system of curriculum and schooling respond to students in a relevant way? How can we create schools that will help our students to thrive in the years ahead?