What are schools not doing?

June 15th, 2008

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/podcasts/2008/2008-06-12-speedofcreativity.mp3 it is a long podcast under what schools aren’t doing.

Are schools fine do they need tinkering, or they are broken or are they obsolete? I always perceived schools to be fine just need tinkering, however an interesting podcast by Steve Wycoff was given it was based on natural learning and what schools aren’t doing, and this made me perceive that schools are broken and they need fixing.

Schools are based on traditional texts, these include written texts, explaining, lecturing and written texts and we as teachers expect these students to understand, however this makes children say school is boring. So the point of this podcast was schools need to change, but what is change and what exactly are we changing. Schools are teaching children things they may not need to know, I think the content that children are learning is important it is how we teach it so it is not the content that we are changing; it is the method of how we teach that we need to change.

Children do not learn by sitting in a classroom and being spoken to and then taking a test, they may get the grades but they do not learn. True learning takes place when children do when they create and when they collaborate. Children set goals they have expectations and when their expectations fail it is then that learning takes place.

This relates back to technology, children are able to drive their own learning they are able to do they can create and by doing things they are able to clarify, and understand what they are doing.

The podcast brings an interesting point; we are supposed to be teaching children skills and knowledge and we are not teaching them skills by sitting them down and explaining things to them, businesses want children who have problem solving skills, they want people who are able to reflect. And this is what teaching with technology does students are able to problem solve, they are able to put their skills into practice and they are able to reflect on skills and what they have learnt. The have the opportunity to grow with what they are doing, they have the opportunity to share what they know with the world, they are able to collaborate and share their opinions.

So why aren’t schools teaching through doing, possibly because it costs a lot and it is too time consuming, however blogging, podcasting, digital media and so forth have cheap if not free software all we need is a computer, a microphone and the software I believe the only problem we are facing is the lack of computers.

In coming back to the main point of the podcast, change needs to occur and that change lies in with how we teach. If we want children to be the best they can be in life after school, if we want them to be pro active, problem solvers and have the skill of reflection we need to start teaching through doing. I guess it is just another way technology is being integrated into our lives.

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Digital Education Revolution

June 15th, 2008 Tagged Digital Education Revolution

The Austalian Government is bringing into place a digital education revolution to improve Australia’s education, this program will spand over 5 years with funding of $1.2 billion dollars to provide schools with new or upgraded information and communication technology, online curriculum tools. The aim of this is to better educate children and prepare them for life after school.

Personally i believe that this is a great idea, most teachers given the chance would want to teach with technology however the problem lies in that its not there. This funding will hopefully encourage more teachers in using technology. Not only will children be able to access information via the interent they will now be able to share their work with the world and be apart of a generation that is motivated through technology.