FROM HERE
TO
HOW?
Looking back to time time I graduated from high school in 1970 I wonder how my school administrators could have possibly conceived the world in which my children would live and learn. Schools in 1970 do not come close to meeting the needs of children in 2007, yet in some ways little has changed inside the scared walls of learning. In other ways we have witnessed a total revolution in the way we talk about teaching and learning. And as we are busily about the business of changing the way we teach in the brave new world of education I am not sure the way we learn has changed.So many problems confront educators. While we are often faced with the challenges of making it through an average day the fact remains that we need to be visionaries. We need to know how to plan and design educational institutions that will not only meet the needs of children of today, but as the Moody Blues sang, to our children's children's children.
If you are taking this class you are preparing yourself to become one of our society's most important leaders regardless if you remain on the local level or are catipolted into a state or national areana. Do you believe this? If not, why? If so, are you ready for the responsibilities that come with the leadership positions that you have, and/or aspire to? I trust the answer is yes. Frankly if you are not ready you need to step out of the way even before you get in the way. Don't be one of the characters of the Bob Dylan song that blocks up the hall. If you don't want to lead us into the future, please do not attempt to lead us back into the past or keep us in the present. Neither are acceptable any longer for our schools. Yet, having said that we must move into the future as educational leaders you are also one of the protectors of all things sacred, and to the preservers of those things that need to be preserved. Are you capable of doing that as well?
Ah, a paradox....lead us into the future while preserving those thing from the past and present that we must keep. Those things we must hold precious and never let go. Those things that we will need as much in the future as we need now. Just as those of us today need things from yesterday as we set our couse squarely into the face of the future.
So, paradoxical thinkers and grasshoppers (bonus points for those of you that can ID this reference) here is the task for this blog: Find some quiet time and reflect. Tap into your sense of vision and leadership and then relate that to us here.
Once you have reflected upon the topic examine and respond to any of these questions to ignite our collective creative spark:
- What will schools look like in the future?
- Will we need schools in the future, or will computer terminals in our homes be enough?
- Will we still need books?
- What skills and knowledge must we retain as we consider educating the children of the future?
- Will they still need to know how to read and write, or will computers do all of that for us?
- Do we really need to know our multiplication tables?
- Are there any other thoughts you may have, and surely you do.
References to consider (please add your own to this list):
The book Future Shock by Alvin Toffler
The album (CD to you young folks) To Our Children's Children's Children by the Moody Blues
The song In the year 2929 by Seager and Evans
The movie The Matrix
Here are some YouTube posts that deal with the subject. What do you think about them?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opXKmwg8VQM
This is a film from the 1940s regarding progressive education at the time. The clip includes a brief part of a lecture being given by John Dewey. It is the only time I can recall actually "seeing" Mr. Dewey speak. It also has a couple other well know professors from Columbia debating "progressive education".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnh9q_cQcUE&NR=1
A post about our changing world and education
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L2XwWq4_BY&NR=1
A post regarding 21st century learning from Library of Congress and Colorado
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOXWFFiotNk&feature=related
Schools of the future with Microsoft being a consultant. Does reality clash with the ideal here? How?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBKFaZze33c&feature=related
This posting about schools of the future primarily for your enjoyment, but does it have a sense of reality behind the satire?
As educational administrators you will be ask to lead us into the future, and I have just one question for you: Got vision?
27 comments:
"grasshopper" - are you referencing David Carradine in the TV series Kung Fu?
What a challenge to try to visually see schools of the future. I have worked in the elementary school which I attended in the late sixties/early seventies. With the exception of numerous additions of technology, the school itself looks basically the same today. The same goes for the high school that I am assistant principal at this year.
I believe that people, young and old, big and small, thrive on the face to face interaction that can only happen in the classroom. That is why, with only a few exceptions, we will never implement a completely computerized curriculum that students will access in the solitude of their homes. Having computers read, write, and compute all things in all situations for everyone would turn our society into a culture of human beings with absolutely no affect, no personality, no passion for learning, and therefore no passion for living. The educators that look square into the eyes of each of their students with the warmth of compassion, that touch the shoulder of a child who is down-hearted, who openly celebrate the successes of each student and the talents that they each bring to the classroom will remain constant in our society. They will never be considered archaic nor will they be looked upon as too futuristic.
I do believe the schools of the future will be more technologically advanced than we can ever try to visualize today. They will have progressed as much or more in the next 25 years as they have in the last 25 years since I graduated from high school. But I hope and pray that these technological devices/processes will be part of the strategies used by real live educators in real live classrooms with real live students to help them become successful citizens in our society, lifelong learners, and compassionate human beings.
If I look back over the last 40 years, I would agree that schools have changed, as have our beliefs and values with regard to what is necessary for a good education. Technology and teaching methods have also changed. However, I don’t believe that humans, as unique individuals, have changed to any degree when it comes to their basic needs, likes and dislikes, or genetics. From my point of view, the methods we use to teach may change, but the individual learner remains constant. I love to listen to music. It doesn’t matter whether you present Kansas to me on an album, an 8-track, a cassette, a CD, or live on a stage; I am still going to like the music of Kansas. The sound quality might be a little bit better, but the music itself remains the same and so does my love for it. As such, I think the schools of the future must not lose sight of this reality. I see personal interaction as a basic need. I think schools of the future will still allow for personal interaction. I can envision modes of transportation that will allow students to travel great distances in a short amount of time. The end result might be that a class of students in “The Principalship” would be comprised of people who travel to one neutral location from places all over the world. I do envision a day when technology allows us to sit in our own homes and through web cameras and voice recognition systems, we will be able to educate students without them having to leave their respective homes. I believe that government, in an effort to save money, will look toward doing away with buildings as a cost saving measure. Perhaps this will involve fewer and smaller buildings that allow those students who wish to gather face to face to do so, while allowing others to participate through some type of video conferencing. We are seeing that happen today, and I believe it will be a trend in the future. I do have concerns that the use of computers and other technology will become such a basic part of who we are that people will lose the ability to do basic skills like reading, math, spelling, writing and typing. I think we are already seeing that with people using “spell check” functions on the computer. My mother-in-law loves to sew; however, sewing is becoming a lost art. The tradition is not being handed down because it is so easy to simply go out and purchase clothing. People have no need to learn the skill. I believe we will see teaching methods continue to change as we strive toward meeting the different learning styles of students – a layered curriculum model. I believe that certain educational areas and degree programs will be dropped because they are no longer necessary in the current environment. For example, teaching students how to become a licensed electrician may become irrelevant as we develop new sources of power and no longer use electricity. I do think some type of computer technology will begin to control and make more decisions for us as individuals. However, man’s knowledge is what created the computer, and I don’t envision technology ever being able to overtake the human mind. I wonder if textbooks will be necessary because we may be able to read off a computer or transmit information directly into our brains through electrodes. As I noted with music, I think that the use of books or anything else for that matter will depend on the demand that society has for it. Where there is a need, the money machine of business will always find a way to provide it. I think we will always need personal interaction and connecting with others in order to maintain relationships. I do envision it as entirely possible that man, as we know him today, may obliterate himself from this world and become an extinct species, and that something else will come along to take our place. This whole new species might approach education from some inconceivable format.
Well we have seen in the classic movie Kung Fu, education occurs from more than instructors. David used his knowledge base to continue to learn from the environment. It appears the virtual age is upon us and some students may do well in this environment. I experienced this recently with our District's kick off of Virtual Public School. The summer students did extremely poor in this environment. The lesson, you must screen and admit those students who can operate in this environment. One item we tend to forget is that of social interaction. Most students acquire the proper skills while attending school. With virtual classes whom will see this happens. For this educational atmosphere to work we will need more parent support than now. And not many schools can say they have too much parent support in the way on helping their child succeed. I believe a mix of virtual and the current face-to-face will always be around. Courses like Advanced placement are currently being attempted in virtual format due to the low class sizes making it hard for district's to legitimize their existence.
The instructional technologist in my school district is actually working with the teachers this year in efforts to encourage more technology in the classroom. We, the educators, are challenged to bring the learning to the children when we are unable to bring the children to the learning. This follows in line with the saying "if they don't learn the way I teach, then I should teach the way they learn". Children today, especially high school level, are driven by the ipods and cell phones. My district is beginning a push to use teacher tube, podcasting, and cell phone cameras, calculators, and texting to reach the students. I do believe we, the educators, are in store for the required implementation of a great amount of technology in the classroom to reach our students and their learning styles.
So, what does this mean for us, the teachers? We must definitely be prepared for the new technology challenge and willing to learn new things. We will need to be trained and skilled in these methods in order to teach to reach the students. This presents the question, are our districts prepared to fund these new and innovative methods of educating the youth of America to complete globally in a technology driven world?
So, what will the schools be like in 20+ years? Will the need for human teachers exist or be obsolete? I think human teachers will always be needed. In my opinion, children still need human and social interactions to learn. I had some students tell me today how much they learn in my class because I explain the information to them.
Taking all of this into consideration, I feel we, the educators, must strive to always be learners too. We must continually engage in opportunities to advance our knowledge and skills through technology.
If we care about kids more than we care about schools, then we must change schools. How do people learn best? We learn best when we care about what we are doing, when we have choices. We learn best when we are using our hands and minds. We learn best when the work we are doing is real and relevant. It we want to prepare children for the world, then we can't continue to isolate them from it. Daggett says,"We can't continue to try to graduate ipod kids from chalkboard schools." Society is asking our graduates for skills and fast-paced communication, and schools are still giving them facts and one-way lectures. When we continue to define education by the number of minutes a student sits in a desk, we are out of touch with reality. The world is changing - schools are not. We still expect our kids today to sit still for long periods of time, to learn primarily by listening to someone else talk, and of course, to never talk to anyone around them. We expect them to emerge at age 18 knowing how to be an adult, how to work copperatively within a group, and how to live in the real world, yet we've only taught them how to be successful in school instead of how to be successful in life. We've got to embrace technology and explore the educational options it presents. Is it the end-all-be-all? NO! Those of you who know me, know how important relationships are to me. But as a school leader, can I allow my own uncertainties and reservations become a barrier to opportunities for students just because it doesn't fit my paradigm? I would hope not.
I was a good teacher, but if I entered the classroom today and taught the way I taught 10 years ago I would not be effective. While I understand that the new virtual high school is not for everyone, it is for some and should be utilized. I still think of Did You Know and am amazed with the reference that our students today and preparing to solve problems that don't even exist today. Does that mean that our main focus should be on teaching students to think!! Go figure!
There is so much good stuff here. It is so difficult to predict what education will look like thirty years from now!
Am I getting a degree that will be useless thirty years from now? Seriously, will principals be needed when the only site in sight is a website? Perhaps. Here is my take on it.
Right now, with our science textbooks, we have the same textbook completely online. I give the students each year their username and password and they leave their paper textbooks in their lockers and use their online versions at home (40% at least this year). I think we are going to go completely electronic, with funds being allocated so that every child has their own laptop to use in class. Instead of purchasing paper textbooks, textbook companies instead will sell their version to be used on a laptop, because if you haven't noticed, the prices on those things are WAY DOWN from years past and continuing in that direction. Print book of all kinds will be used less frequently in an effort to cut down on paper usage and begin to save the environment. Libraries and book stores will go online to provide their services. Many libraries nationwide have long begun this conversion already, including App. State's.
Schools will become more and more tailored to specific tracks for individuals to choose at an early age, be tested for competency along the way, and then removed or advanced in that track after the stringent tests (see Europe for more details). Writing skills will be less valued. Typing skills will be used less and less because of advances in voice-recognition software. Storefronts will no longer be necessary because everything will be purchased online (sorry, off on a tangent).
Spanish will be taught from early on since it became the nation's second national language. Barriers to certain groups in education will persist and will in fact worsen due to a "jump on the train, or be left behind" approach in the fast-paced world of technology. Social programs will be created to help those struggling to learn due to the changes. Programs like outreach where hired personnel go into the homes and help individuals there. Physical sites that do exist will exist for those needing face-to-face instruction and assistance. Sports will still be played, but instead of there being school teams, there will be community teams (sort of like professional teams belong to cities). Sports will still play a large role in our society because professional athletes will be needed in order to continue to push advertisements!!! (There's a reason why they get paid all that dough)
No more cafeteria food! With a changing face to education (and the workplace for that matter) where people do their "stuff" from home, the government will intercede, through the FDA, and put much stricter mandates on the healthiness of food since children will receive little to no physical education (sorry Kelly!).
Organizational theory will change dramatically with this changing landscape. Theories will be built around these new ways of communicating from long distances versus through face-to-face interaction. Bureaucratic heirarchies will continue in the form of federal, state, and district systems. Why? Because the government said so, thats why!
Ok, that's enough from me.
In his book, Out of the Box Leadership, Paul Houston attributes problems in education to the fact "schools have been making incremental progress in an exponential environment." Kelly's earlier comment and quote by Daggett would mirror Houston's statement. The 21st Century has arrived and if we truly hope to prepare globally competitive students for futures that we can only begin to imagine, we must recognize that our students' ability to compete will not come simply from gathering information but from using that information in creative ways. Houston also quotes Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind as saying, "our left brain-driven world is giving way to a more right brained society that focuses on creative, holistic skills." If our students are to survive in and contribute to our future, we as teachers must be more creative in the ways that we teach. This will require us to become more knowledgeable about our subject areas and to be more willing to teach "out of the box" that we have been in in for many years. That doesn't mean that we lose human interactions that have drawn most of us to this profession. It means that we embrace the technologies that allow us to increase and embellish those interactions so that our students futures are not limited to the same "boxes" that we occupied in classrooms 20 years ago! There is hope for the right-brained people of the world--even in this technological age!
As much as we preach 21st Century Schools, we continue to be living in a differenct world! We focus on trying to predict the future and we haven't figured out the present.
Schools can't keep up with the technology age. Our budgets limit us ---maybe the state has a secret to making it work with no more funding yet again.
However, the students I work with on a daily basis are from poverty stricken homes with no technology. As the economy continues on it's downward spiral I do not see that these families will be able to even have the access to the technology to the degree we are referring to here.
However, as we sit and watch, numerous other countries around us are running circles around us.
Change is inevitable- yet we are dragging our feet and fighting all the way.
My grandchildren will live in a very different world. However, I am not sure it will be that of the Jetson's quite yet :)
Have schools really changed that much? Maybe in some areas, but as a whole I do not believe we have distanced ourselves that much from education in 1976 when my mom graduated from high school. Sure we have IEPs now and the obvious of more computers. I still think you have teachers who teach in the same manner as 30 years ago. You can walk by some classrooms and see the teacher lecturing and students sitting there with books open about to fall asleep. And I also believe there were teachers 30 years ago who did more hands on activities within their classroom. This surely can not be a new concept. I think schools will be more technology driven in the future. In 30 years I could see each student coming to school with a laptop where they type all notes and submit their work through email. There is no paper trail. A student would save the worksheet onto their computer, fill in the answers, and then email it to the teacher to grade. We will see more palm pilots instead of planners or agendas. I do not foresee America haven class from home and students never going to a location for school. Books may not be necessary since every child will have a laptop at their desks and they can surf the internet and find websites related to the topic they are covering in class. I believe reading and writing are skills that we will always need. It will still be taught, but maybe not as big of a focus. Even though you may not write as much you will still need basic grammar to communicate. You cannot rely on word processing programs to correct your spelling or grammar. I think math calculations still should be done by the student. Do we want children to become lazy and rely on everything else, but themselves. Students still will need to be able to keep up with bank accounts and know how much money they have or do not have. I think that the writing test may be done away with. Maybe students will have to type their essay on a computer and then upload to NCDPIs website for grading. EOGs will be done over the computer. Every time a student answers a multiple choice question the next one will pop up and at the end the child will automatically receive their final score. That saves teachers from waiting until the fall to receive results. Life could be so much easier with more technology. But what good is technology if we do no use it to our advantage?
Schools in the future will possibly look aesthetically much like they are today, with the exception of more technology being implemented as a resource for teaching and learning. I do believe that we will continue to have face-to-face interaction and physical schools for students to attend. The reason for this is that an essential component of learning is relationships. Though computers and technology open up a new world, they can not express emotions which are essential to the growth and development of humans and to the learning experience.
Though I believe we will have physical schools in the future, I believe the need for textbooks is greatly diminishing. I believe that writings and primary sources will always remain a resource, but I believe they will become completely accessible online or through technology in some form. I also believe that email and posts will serve as a method of communication to teach some skills like writing. Also, I believe that in the future we will move more towards learning from one another, this is one of the things that the technological age is allowing us to do. In the future, I see students learning how to write grammatically correct papers thru reading each others work and peer-correcting with the help of on-line resources.
Skills that will be imparative for future students to know and learn will be reading, writing, math, cultural relations, and study skills. I believe these skills will be important because they not only deal with knowing what we consider "basic skills" but, also students need to know how to interact with all cultures and people around the world as well as the know-how to teach and ability to learn skills and knowledge they don't already know. In addition to these skills I believe what we know as "character education" will still be a relevant component in educating children to be successful. Students must know how to be honest, respectful, courteous, and compassionate. These are skills that I believe are essential and in some cases I reverence them higher than intellectual skills. Why you may ask? Personally, I believe that teaching students these skills will help us to shape and form a more moral and caring society. Above knowledge I believe that to survive in this world we must care about and help one another.
To begin envisioning what the future might hold for students, school leaders have to look at the past as a point of reference. Not only does the past tell us so much about where we are today, it also gives us a clues as to how little we knew way back when. We, as 21st Century Educational leaders, must acknowledge the fact that we have no idea what the future holds. With this being the case, I feel strongly that we have to provide students with higher level thinking skills, the need to care for humanity and the environment, and the coping skills neeeded to deal with large scale change. All of this embedded in the desire for life long learning is what today's students will need to be successful if what we know of our own past is true.
I have thought many times in the past about how will public education look in the future. With our society becoming more technological is it possible that the need for teachers and new buildings would become obsolete. Each year school systems in our area are asking the voters to approve a multi-hundred million dollar bond for new students. This year our county is offering Virtual High School courses to our students how does this balance with the need for new schools.
My wife recently completed a program at UNC Chapel Hill that was 90% on-line. Could public schools do this? Part of me thinks that this would be a tremendous option for public schools, but there is one over-riding factor, student supervision.
Two of the foundations for public schools as we now know it are integration of immigrants into the American culture and reducing the number of young people available for the workforce. Combine these two factors with the number of parents that view school as an opportunity for them to have relief from their children during the school day and the total demise of the educational system as we know it will not happen in the near future.
One possibility is that video conferencing and on-line instruction could rise. This may reduce the number of qualified teachers needed with one teacher from a remote location instruction numerous sites at the same time. You could then hire monitors to oversee the classes and provide supervision. This could create an even greater divide in the have and have nots with the upper classes providing private sites for their children and friends to come while the lower class students still go to the 'public schools'.
I wonder now why does the state require students to complete a writing test by hand. How many people use handwriting as a viable means of communication. Most in not all businesses written communication internal and external involve the use of a computer. Should we not be preparing our students for his life not as we lived in the past but as it will be in the future. This assessment could be a part of the computer assessments that students are required to take.
I do believe that public education will continue in the future, but it will be very different from what we are accustom to now.
We aleady have courses that use a complete on line curriculum (no books) and we already have online courses that student never sees the instructor. In this day and age when we talk about relationships being the key factor of student success in schools I don't see the movement going so far that buildings and face to face learning will be obsolete. The new school reform is all about small schools, personal relationships, etc. We will still need to teach our kids to think, react, explore, etc. Yes I believe we will still need to know our multiplication tables in our future schools. There may be new uses for them, but we will still need to know the basics of sentence structure and math concepts. I think the technology we have and the opportunities it affords our students is awesome, but I don't think it should or will replace people. I think the current trend and research shows that students need a teacher who will develop a relationship with that child in order for the student to be successful.
To play the devil's advocate...once we run out of qualified teachers to teach our children in the classroom, then we might see the human side become obsolete.
Many school systems have adopted the three Rs as supplements to their missions, visions, values and goals. I think this is a wonderful ideology when implemented and sustainable programs are put in place to make sure that the curriculum is rigorous and relevant, and that relationships are established between teachers and students. However, with the onslaught of virtual classes (either online, via television, etc.) we are leaving out one of the most important Rs…relationships. I think the online courses are great when schools cannot justify offering certain classes due to low enrollment; however, I believe a majority of a student’s day should be spent face to face with teachers. I think most of us in class agree that we learn a lot from one another’s stories, ideas and experiences and this would not be possible without interaction and discussion which is not possible online! In addition, when students take these online classes (especially during the summer), a certain degree of parental support is needed. As we discussed in class last night (6.26), this is not always going to happen…as was mentioned, “when they’re in school, they’re yours.” A parent with sentiments such as this is not going to facilitate their child’s instruction in an online class if taken during the summer, or an extra class during the academic year.
I feel as though there will always be a need for brick and mortar schools, young people need the interaction with teachers and friends. A lot of families do not (and will not) have the resources available for education to become strictly homebound via the internet. If nothing else, students will need to receive their free/reduced lunch, as this is the only meal some students will eat in the course of a day.
Virtual classrooms are great supplements, online books could be very cost effective…both are great, if used in addition to (as opposed to in place of) traditional teaching and learning. If we are going to stand by the three Rs, there will always be the need for site based teaching.
My soapbox has been Technology Integration for some time now. It is a revolution in the way in which we teach, not just in the delivery of the instruction. To me, this is what gets lost in translation. Teachers and Principals get fixed on the tools and the gadgets, and not so much in the fact that tools are the vehicle, not the end. In conversations about Technology Integration, I've had Teachers tell me "Oh yeah, I use my InterWrite Pad every day." But to what effect?
"Did you use it to incorporate a database into your Language Arts class?"
"Or a spreadsheet into an Art class?"
"Did it promote or stimulate higher order thinking or project based learning?"
"Was collaboration involved?"
The State of North Carolina has crafted Goals for Future Ready Schools and put teeth into Standard Course of Study Technology Strands; however, many Teachers and Administrators fail to realize they are there much less put them into practice.
As Future Administrators it will be our burden to be the agents of change and Instructional Leaders. We must create the buy in and manage the transition from "Sage on the Stage" to 21st Century Globally Competetive Learning. We must be prepared to provide training and funding for the change, and embrace what it brings rather than go into the night kicking and screaming. Instructional Technology is not a trend or fad, it's a path. To lose your way, slow or turn back from the path will get you lost.
I currently teach technology at a high school. The curriculum we are teaching with the software we have is already outdated.The problem is having the funds to buy all the equipment and software that DPI wants us to teach.
I teach E-COmmerce and that is constructing a business online. It is not functional but there. The state test has questions about the software photoshop but we had to use a free version of GIMP. It was goignt o ost the school system around $10,000. It is not fair that the kids be tested on programs we cannot purchase.
We are allowing the students to at our school to classes online as a period. I think this is a great idea. However, each day I walk by, the students are not on their school site, they are playing games and misusing their time.So is this really benefiting them???
I can see having everything online in the near future and I think it is great as long as the money can help keep up with new technology.
OK... I'm going to stir the pot so hang on!
I think we have to adapt to technology and intergrate it into the schools... I know you see it coming so here goes. BUT... there are a couple of issues we must address.
1)Money. We have to have it to buy it. This is an adminstration issue. Now you've got money how do you spend it. Do you buy for today or tomorrow? Who do you buy for? Some adminstrators are going ton the theory, if your test scores don't count then you don't get any.
2) Here is the one that will get a rise out of a lot of educators. Many educators want the latest and greatest just because thaey want it not need it! Some are like a dog chasing cars. When you get what you ask for, what do you do with it? Don't just let techology gather dust. Don't just use your computer to average grades and play solitair.
Now are some teachers going to lose their jobs to technology? Probably. But if they are not willing to be life-long learners and change with the times then they should go. I can personally say that I have to do something different right now. I use technology on a daily basis but in the last six months my software has past me by. I could continue to teach the way I currently do and the students would do well enough to get by. But this isn't fair to them.
We as teachers need to realize that it is not about us. Educated,productive young adults are the the end product of the business of education. We as consumers won't settle for inferior goods. So we should be determined to turn out the best product we can as teachers. We must face the facts and admit that techology is here to stay. Use it, learn it or get out of the way.
I think that as educators we must adapt to the changing world around us. When our students are at home, they are surrounded by technology, iPod, Wii, Xbox, and so many others that I can’t even name. I think it’s important for us to realize that children who have grown up and never known a time without computers or the Internet will not be engaged by lessons involving the teacher at the white board. I believe our future schools will have to become more adapt at integrating technology within the classroom. We will still need schools, books and to teach our children basic knowledge, because it’s important that our students leave our schools able to read, write and think on their own, not only with the assistance of a computer.
I agree with Melanie when she says that people thrive on face-to-face interaction. I find this to be true as well. I believe as educators we must take steps to increase our use of technology, but in an interactive way. I have started a blog with my 5th grade reading group this year and found it to be one of the best things I’ve ever done. They blog about books we’ve read together and some of their insights are so profound it’s staggering. They share things via the blog, they would never say face to face, but the next day, they are waiting at the door to ask me if I’ve read their thoughts and eager to discuss them.
We are gaining some any incredible new tools – Smart boards, Promethean boards, document cameras, sound systems for classrooms and so much more, but I believe it’s important to use these as tools to enhance the education we are already providing and make it more interactive and appealing for our students, not to use them as a replacement for the classroom and the personal student-teacher interactions that can be so valuable.
The last video was a unique perspective on teaching and technology in that sometimes it can go too far to one extreme. I personally believe in the value of human interaction. I hate when I call somewhere and get a machine that tells me push 1 for this or 2 for this...I sometimes just want to talk to a live human being. This is no longer the norm. We are also seeing this trend in education. We are seeing the microsoft schools of the future and these things are great, but I think it is imperative that the human element remains in tact. I also believe that public education needs to make a conscious effort to provide the tools that teachers and students need for these jobs and skills of the future. If this is not a priority then we will continue to fall behind.
I enjoyed the video clip "Education Today and Tomorrow". I have seen that clip about China and India so many times now that I believe I could recite it for a school program if I had to. Okay maybe that is a fact but I can only deal with my reality. My reality is working with students who do not speak English as a first language. However, almost every child speaks the language of push "a" to jump or "x" to shoot. We have to meet students where they are. Just as our students are ever evolving so we as educators and administrators need to change. Oops I said the dreaded word, change.
One assistant superintendent in our district said "Technology won't replace teachers, but teachers who will not teach with technology will be replaced". My quote may be off by a few words but you get the meaning behind the words. We will have to adapt in order to keep pace with the changes made in technology on a daily basis.
One more thing and then I will stop writing. What can we do to get teachers to replace worksheets? When will they see that not all students learn from pushing pencil to paper. We must begin teaching understanding more about multiple intelligences.
I believe schools are evolving day to day. The teacher that you are will not serve well tomorrow. As Sheila said if I taught the way I did 10 years ago, I wouldn't be effective; that is very true. I am a fairly new teacher and find myself re-examining my teaching practices daily. Technology is teeming within the educational system; we as teachers must immerse ourselves in the 21st century goals in order to serve our students effectively.
Will reading and writing be extinct? I hope not. I have colleagues who believe that writing is not imperitive to learning in the 21st century due to the age of keyboarding and computer technology. I believe that it should still be taught and encouraged.
I like the quote that Stephanie left about technology and teachers. We as teachers, in order to be visionaries, MUST continue our own education daily to meet the rising priorities in education.
The structure of this response, while lacking in creativity, is an attempt to help remind me to address each point.
* What will schools look like in the future?
--Physically they will probably closely resemble the structures that we work in/attend today with several more updated pieces of technology present.
* Will we need schools in the future, or will computer terminals in our homes be enough?
--Will we NEED schools? Yes, but I think requiring actual attendance within a classroom might be somewhat altered or not required at all. Being in a school helps develop the WHOLE learner by developing those social skills most kids sorely lack.
* Will we still need books?
* Will they still need to know how to read and write, or will computers do all of that for us?
--Absolutely. We all need to be able to "unplug" sometimes. We don't need to become overly dependent on technology.
* What skills and knowledge must we retain as we consider educating the children of the future?
--We need to be able to remain relevant in the eyes of those students that we're trying to reach. What is an education lacking relevance?
* Do we really need to know our multiplication tables?
--YES! We can learn how to do them on calculators and take the clerk's word for what we're owed, or we can learn to check for ourselves. We need to be able to think for ourselves to some degree, and being rooted in fundamentals (multiplication, writing properly, etc) provides a foundation from which we can develop our "deeper thinking skills".
* Are there any other thoughts you may have, and surely you do.
--Technology is a great thing, but it too often becomes a crutch for people who haven't learned how to think or filter through information for themselves. People, not only kids, too often find unreliable information and take it at face value because they see it in print or on the internet. Fundamental thinking skills and social interaction are important concepts that need to remain key components in education for these conveniences of technology to have real value.
I have two brothers and 1 sister. My sister had her first child when I was a freshman in high school, my youngest brother, had a daughter when I was a sophmore and my oldest brother had his son when I was a junior (yes -- I was a suprise). My oldest nephew is 26 and my youngest nephew is 19. The world seems to be so much more opened to them. My nephew who is 23 has begun his doctorate in Chinese studies at UNC,(Somehow he was able to create a program around what he is interested in.) My neice has a degree in exercise medicine. I did not know there was such a degree. I think that we are going to have to be open to what the future holds and anything is possible and probable. I know most if not all has seen thr YouTube "Shift Happens" But I think it is also very appropiate here.
School is social and an important source of community. This can be replaced but such a society would be depressing. Technology has surpassed our humanity as einstein predicted. Some innovatinos are impplemented simply becasue our neighbors are doing it, or it justifies an inflated budget, or gives the impression of progress, and yes sometimes it actually increases learning. Books are becoming obsolete, Amazon is rapidly introducing downloadable books. I'm not sure about writing in the future but feel this would be a sort of loss not easily replaced. Mulitiplication tabales will remain essential as a foundation of higher order thinking though machines, as computers already do, will compute complex calculations but the need for the human brain to think about how it thinks remains. The schools of he future can take many looks. Current innovatins, such as virtual school seem to be forcing their way into education. They offer possibilities but are the product of innovation for the sake of innovation.
I believe the concept of schools, as they are today, will remain as they are, but will the added element of technology as it evolves. Students will have laptops in order to communicate, learn, and practice, so spelling lessons will be a thing of the past. Teachers will use streamlined videos to teach skills and guide instruction. Teachers will utilize blogs for student feedback. Students will still need the hands on lessons to learn vital 21st century skills, which will mostly be presented in project based lessons. There are currently iEARN communities, which connects more than 2 million students and educators from 125 countries. There will always be the necessity for books in order to preserve information in its true form, can I just say Wikipedia. Schools will definitely be necessary because won’t there still be unstable homes in the future? Human interaction is key for effective learning. I would hope that education becomes more real world and career aligned so that it’s relevant to students’ success in their future.
I would like to answer the question of what will schools look like in the future?
I believe that with the continuing development of technology, we will have more students taking classes from on through virtual schools. We will still have a need for the traditional schools but more students are going to be interested in taking classes online. I believe more information will be available online and students will not need textbooks because they can receive the information from the Internet. Teachers will need to be computer literate in order to teach. Students will still learn to read and write and will need to know their multiplication tables. Computers are going to continue to grow and become an important aspect of life but it will not replace the basics.
Where am I? I believe I am ready for the future because I teach online courses through Moodle and have taught classes through Blackboard and teach the traditional way as well. I am also very literate in computer technology.
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