Why School? What do schools have to offer our students that technology and the world can't already provide our students with? This is a question that I've been wondering about for the past two days after listening to a lecture on Why School? by Will Richardson.
Honestly, after listening to Will's lecture I have more questions than before I listened. Some of my questions are:
I believe that technology and students' experiences with technology have changed education and the way it operates. Schools, in my opinion, are still at a place where they are afraid to use technology. This is not to say that schools aren't using technology but rather that most schools are not using technology efficiently.
Technology can serve as a great tool for educators in helping teach difficult concepts as well as the possibilities it provides to talk to experts in different fields around the world to help students learn. But, I continue to struggle with the place of technology in the classroom , because it is a great resource but I also believe in hands on and experiential learning. If the major source of information in our classroom comes from the internet then why can't students do that learning at home and come to school to have experience in building relationships and practical life skills.
I'm not saying that I don't want technology to be in my classroom because again it is a great resource but I think that it should aid us in teaching. We, as teachers, should know how to navigate technology efficiently and effectively in order to help our students learn how to make the best out of the tools provided for them. We need to help our students to understand that we too are learning and that they can help us and teach us too! The internet can provide both us and our students with lots of knowledge but I am suggesting that schools should help students acquire wisdom as well as knowledge.
"The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but
those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." - Alvin Toffler (from Will's presentation)
This quote really stuck out to me. This is something that as a teacher I need to hold on to. If I am not willing to relearn education and the traditional ways of the classroom and transform them into something engaging for my students, why should they be learning what I'm teaching them. The difficult question, though is how do I teach my students to do this as well so that together we can go from traditional learning to "Traditional Learning AND Modern Learning" (Will Richardson).
When I was in elementary school, computers were used to compose our writing (which was stored on floppy disks!!) and if all our work was completed were were allowed to use the computer for free time on a few limited educational applications and websites. In high school, many students had computers so referencing online material in papers seemed logical, yet so many teachers required the majority of your sources to be in print format. I would like this to be different in my classroom when I'm in my own classroom. Students should be able to use the internet as a great tool to better their education. This is partially where I believe that helping students to become wise should come in. We should be able to teach students where to find good resources and help them learn to decided for themselves if a resource is accurate.
The other place I believe wisdom is important is by giving students experiences that will better them as individuals. Providing experiences where students are able to make decisions for themselves and work according to their own needs as well as having opportunities for students to practice justice in the classroom will all build wisdom because students are thinking for themselves rather being taught a formula that they are supposed to fill. This scares me because I know it's not going to be easy. I know parents and co-workers will disagree with me on many things, but I think that we need to listen to our students otherwise we are just pushing them through the system.
Letting students learn about things they care about allows them to have a more interactive educational experience. Imagine if all students were able to go home everyday and be excited about what they had learned or were learning. How would this change the face of education?
The last thing I want to leave you with is another quote from Will Richardson's presentation because afterall, if it isn't true, then what's the point of school?
"The only competitive skill in the long run is skill at learning." Seymour Papert
Cheers!
Honestly, after listening to Will's lecture I have more questions than before I listened. Some of my questions are:
- Will my career be for naught in a matter of years because of technology?
- How do I let my students truly explore and navigate their own learning while still being a person of influence for them?
- How do I communicate with my students that I too am a learner and that they can and should help me continue to learn and teach me new things?
- Why was my school experience the way it was and how can I make the schooling experiences of my students more relevant and applicable to daily activities than mine was?
I believe that technology and students' experiences with technology have changed education and the way it operates. Schools, in my opinion, are still at a place where they are afraid to use technology. This is not to say that schools aren't using technology but rather that most schools are not using technology efficiently.
Technology can serve as a great tool for educators in helping teach difficult concepts as well as the possibilities it provides to talk to experts in different fields around the world to help students learn. But, I continue to struggle with the place of technology in the classroom , because it is a great resource but I also believe in hands on and experiential learning. If the major source of information in our classroom comes from the internet then why can't students do that learning at home and come to school to have experience in building relationships and practical life skills.
I'm not saying that I don't want technology to be in my classroom because again it is a great resource but I think that it should aid us in teaching. We, as teachers, should know how to navigate technology efficiently and effectively in order to help our students learn how to make the best out of the tools provided for them. We need to help our students to understand that we too are learning and that they can help us and teach us too! The internet can provide both us and our students with lots of knowledge but I am suggesting that schools should help students acquire wisdom as well as knowledge.
"The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but
those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." - Alvin Toffler (from Will's presentation)
This quote really stuck out to me. This is something that as a teacher I need to hold on to. If I am not willing to relearn education and the traditional ways of the classroom and transform them into something engaging for my students, why should they be learning what I'm teaching them. The difficult question, though is how do I teach my students to do this as well so that together we can go from traditional learning to "Traditional Learning AND Modern Learning" (Will Richardson).
When I was in elementary school, computers were used to compose our writing (which was stored on floppy disks!!) and if all our work was completed were were allowed to use the computer for free time on a few limited educational applications and websites. In high school, many students had computers so referencing online material in papers seemed logical, yet so many teachers required the majority of your sources to be in print format. I would like this to be different in my classroom when I'm in my own classroom. Students should be able to use the internet as a great tool to better their education. This is partially where I believe that helping students to become wise should come in. We should be able to teach students where to find good resources and help them learn to decided for themselves if a resource is accurate.
The other place I believe wisdom is important is by giving students experiences that will better them as individuals. Providing experiences where students are able to make decisions for themselves and work according to their own needs as well as having opportunities for students to practice justice in the classroom will all build wisdom because students are thinking for themselves rather being taught a formula that they are supposed to fill. This scares me because I know it's not going to be easy. I know parents and co-workers will disagree with me on many things, but I think that we need to listen to our students otherwise we are just pushing them through the system.
Letting students learn about things they care about allows them to have a more interactive educational experience. Imagine if all students were able to go home everyday and be excited about what they had learned or were learning. How would this change the face of education?
The last thing I want to leave you with is another quote from Will Richardson's presentation because afterall, if it isn't true, then what's the point of school?
"The only competitive skill in the long run is skill at learning." Seymour Papert
Cheers!