Inquiry Based Learning Outside the Classroom

It appears that the public system of education has recently stumbled upon the idea of using inquiry inside the classroom as a means to generate student learning.  But frankly, inquiry (or whatever pseudonym you give it) is the way that people learn many of the skills they use in their daily lives.

Not only does the MacArthur Foundation's digital youth white paper address the uses of technology in youth cultures, but it also exhibits how youth are going about learning the tool.  They discuss the great advantages of the digital age and the use of the tools that are now available for social and educational purposes.  But the most powerful note is toward the end in the implications section.  The study cites that children who are highly exposed and have significant time to "mess around" actually develop a higher mastery of the technology.  Technology is not just a means to learning and education, it itself has skills and content that are essential for students to learn.

The study is important because of the content it contains.  Technology is pervasive in the lives of our children and its powers can be harnessed for learning - academically and socially.  But this small bit included in the study should be highlighted as a theme that should emerge in all disciplines and modalities of study - inquiry.  An inquiry-based approach makes intuitive sense when teaching things like blogging or making music on garage band.  So how come it has taken so long for the education world to embrace inquiry for the core disciplines?  And why is it such a shock that this is how people learn technology?