Monday, July 11, 2011

Learning to change - changing to learn

Interesting that education is ranked last out of 55 sectors when it comes to the use and integration of technology.  Not surprising when you see many classrooms operating on the past and what "I have always done" type of mentality.  The butterfly lesson may be engaging and full of wonderful activities for our children to do but is it helping them to become critical thinkers and collaborators for the future?  Could we change or enhance the butterfly unit using technology to better prepare our students?

The message by Sir Ken Robinson about our schools being linear and not organic is very compelling.  Our schools tend to have an industrial thread about them with students working their way through classes to obtain a diploma or certificate.  Students gain knowledge through scripted content and show evidence of learning with a summative type assessment.  The thought of our schools changing to an organic way of doing things is vital for success in life.  Our students need to become critical thinkers who are open minded, reflective and inquiring about the world around them.  As educators we need to create the conditions for that to happen.

4 comments:

  1. I appreciate your comments. As someone said recently, "culture trumps strategy every time", and I believe it.

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  2. Well said! I agree that our schools must function in a way that facilitates critical thinkers... capable of applying the knowledge they gain. We MUST change our schools to mirror the rest of the world, and how it is rapidly changing.

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  3. The integration of technology is important to the future success of education. That being said, isn't it ultimately about integrating technology with good teaching? I can think of many teachers that I had that were exceptional teachers under a more traditional system, but they made sure their approaches, expectations and goals were more sophisticated, higher and challenging. It's when those favorite units--i.e. butterflies--is the exact same unit now as it was 10 years ago. There in lies the danger. I don't feel technology can overcome poor teaching.

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  4. Marzano, states that the single most important factor that impacts student academic success is the teacher. More than class, language, poverty...it is the teacher. The teacher is critical. How teachers go, so do their students. Technology is a tool that good teachers can use to make a difference. The question becomes how can we as educational leaders support teachers in the integration of technology in their classrooms?

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