I didn't enjoy school very much. Occasionally, I had a teacher who would inspire me. But as an adult, as I began working with computer technology to tell stories through film, I began to wonder, "Why couldn't we use these new technologies to help improve the learning process?"
Twenty years ago when we started The George Lucas Educational Foundation, we could see that digital technology was going to completely revolutionize the educational system, whether it liked it or not. Yet, in light of extraordinary advancements in how we use technology to communicate and learn, our schools and districts have been frustratingly slow to adapt.
Unfortunately, much of our system of education is locked in a time capsule that dates back to the Industrial Revolution, when learning became an exercise in pumping as much information into kids as possible. At the end of this education assembly line comes a diploma -- if the student can spit back the facts correctly. But in an era where technology can deliver most of the world's information on demand and knowledge is changing so rapidly, the model doesn't work. Why spend $150 on textbooks that students use for only 15 weeks with information that soon becomes obsolete?
What we need today and in the future are citizens who can wield the tools of technology to solve complex problems. Which means we need students who can:
The good news is that in pockets across our country, schools and districts are unleashing contemporary technology -- combined with classic methods of inquiry-based learning that date back to Plato and Socrates -- to transform the learning process into a rigorous and more relevant experience.
Consider a few powerful examples. In Portland, Maine, middle and high school students have a 1-to-1 laptop program, strong school leadership, and project-based learning curricula that result in higher academic achievement. In Columbia, South Carolina, an elementary school uses computers to personalize student learning based on individual needs and abilities. And, here in the state of California, scores of high schools have restructured to offer career academies with rigorous curricula, enabling students to connect their learning to the "real world" and potential careers.
Are there enough of these schools and districts? No. Will the work of fixing our schools and re-inventing the learning process be long and arduous? Of course. But as we move on from debating what we ought to do and get busy building a better way, let's remember that the solutions -- and the tools and people who are implementing them -- are not far away. In fact, they are nearer than you think.
Through our Edutopia Web presence at edutopia.org and on popular social networks, our Foundation shines a spotlight on the most exciting classrooms where these innovations are taking place. By learning not only what but how these inspiring teachers and students are redefining learning, we hope others will consider how their work can promote change in their own schools.
Our Foundation staff is eager to know about your successes in improving schools especially through the power of technology integration. Together we can bring positive change to education.
We encourage you to share your ideas on Edutopia.org and join the effort to transform learning.
Meredith Ely: The 'Technology Plan' Conundrum
Audrey Watters: Mobile Phones, Educational Apps, and the Digital Divide
Meredith Ely: Education Cares About Technology, But Do Technologists Care About Education?
Lucy Friedman: An Opening for Digital Learning
George Lucas Educational Foundation: Edutopia
George Lucas Pledges Millions To Education
BTW the only truly sustainable technology is stone age...
We must also first realize that Brown v. BOE simply rearranged segregation from race based to socio-economic class based, at the expense of poor whites. The elite set up private schools to deliver quality educations to their children while sacrificing poor whites to an underfunded public system with the intent to oppress further the masses, or "lower classes." That is why we see a defunding of our education systems across the nation. The elites have the resources to ensure their kids get a proper education, funded by the war machine that stuffs their pockets. Their children get educated and are spared from serving in the unnecessary, and most times illegal, wars. A simple inquiry into the disparity between education and military spending in this nation would paint a clear picture for any non-delusional person that this is true.
How the characters think and solve problems in a story is instructive even if the story is fictional but involves SCIENCE. My teachers never used the science books that were sitting on the shelves. I remember sitting through an entire class, about what I don't recall, I just stared at the science books we never opened.
I just found a public domain physics book from 1910 on the Internet yesterday. Newtonian physics worked the same way in 1910 as it does today. I could have used that in grade school. LOL
http://users.aber.ac.uk/dgc/funtheyhad.html
"digital technology was going to completely revolutionize the educational system, whether it liked it or not." This line from the article is the key, helping teachers realize the benefits of the technology will make the difference in getting them on board.
How about THIS: http://www.shatters.net/celestia/
Of course we wouldn't want kids to get the idea they could learn more interesting and important and fun stuff without teachers. It is certainly curious that something as simple as a National Recommended Reading List hasn't been promoted in the last 50 years.
How about a book I only heard of in the last year but could have read in high school?
http://www.anxietyculture.com/tyranny.htm
I tried to read Science and Sanity decades ago. TToW is derived from S&S and is apparently easier to understand. But both books are from the 1930s so should have been readily available in the 60s.
"Do you think that's "air" you're breathing"
~Morpheus
And yet, if this is true, why is it that this new generation doesn't know how to format a paper in a word processor? They do not know where and when to place italics, use footnotes, or use proper capitalization or punctuation. While the words themselves may be accurately spelled, the sentences don't make sense when read.
You see, there's a difference between using technology as a tool, and using technology as a crutch. I do not believe--given all that I've seen with many of today's undergraduates--that this new, tech-savvy generation views technology as a tool. They use it as a crutch, an excuse not to think about what they are writing, or calculating, or formatting.
A quick glance at how a student chooses their words will provide you with a lot of insight into how today's student thinks. Notice how prepositions are chosen at random: on, in, upon, over, into, through, etc. all have specific contextual meanings, but the students tend not to notice how they are using them. Notice also how plurals and possessives (Walker's, Walkers', Walkers) are confused. Usage is also very bad (Their, There, They're; Assent, Ascent; Affect, Effect). The reason they confuse these things is because they have not developed an innate sense of style. They rely on computers for style.
I love that you know 'curricula' is plural.
I especially appreciate the movement away from "knowledge acquisition" to "classical methods of inquiry-based learning," enabled by technology that puts all of the information we could possibly use at our fingertips. We end up with skills, not facts. What a difference that could make in our world.
I have seen the two extremes with my kids' teachers through the years. Some teachers, particularly younger ones, embrace technology and are excited about its potential for engaging students. Other teachers simply want to continue with that Industrial Revolution approach.
For these new ideas to take hold, you have to get to the teachers and the teachers-in-training and get them fully on board.
Let’s start with the math. Forget about preschool, forget about college, kids are looking at about 1300 hours (180 X 7) of school a year for thirteen years, that’s about 17,000 hours; throw in, conservatively, another 3,000 hours for homework. We’re talking about 20,000 hours, double Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 Hour Rule. For what?
Don’t we want to teach the concept of opportunity cost? With all that time invested, shouldn’t our children be experts in something other than getting into college? Read more: http://learnmeproject.com/2010/11/19/the-thrill-is-gone/
It is a door way to the cultural and technical world and a window to the world. It relies on people to edit these infinite possibilities so that it does not use up our finite time.
The number one search item on Google for a few days recently was Tonya Harding the figure skater. No offense to Tonya but there is a lot going on int the world today aside from her. It is nice to see she is doing OK. On the other hand there is this thing about energy independence from Middle Eastern oil to educate ourselves about. Hardly a search rating for that.
As Ester Dyson said "on the other end of all the wires is just people."
Putting the money and resources into education is not being done. Instead we see cuts and firings. Technology increases the need for good teachers not diminish the need... especially, here at the beginning of this change. Our local school board see computers as a magic totem object to replace teachers. This is because the school board is computer illiterate. As are most of the people elected to run education currently.
Only after they have been caused to alert themselves to the fact, that everything from the bible to the big bang theory has glaring anomalies in it.
'Glaring anomalies' are the world we live in. Nothing is certain, no matter how much we try to force it to be so.
In any large scale societal transition, there are bound to be growing pains. We can't expect change to happen overnight, especially when the policy makers and leaders are digital immigrants, stuck in the ways of the past. This rocky transitional period is causing unrest in many areas - including journalism, politics, the music industry, and yes, education.
In this debate about using technology in schools, I continue to see a misconception about what technology actually means. Overhead projectors, blackboards, pencils, books, paper, the written language - these are all forms of technology. The personal computer, smart boards, and tablets are also forms of technology - just newer.
At some point, teachers had to learn how to use pencils, blackboards and overhead projectors effectively. I think there's a misconception that computers and the Internet will solve everything, when in reality, they're just new tools that we need to learn to use in order to engage our students in a more relevant manner.
This is the first I've heard of Edutopia, and I like what I see at first glance. I look forward to exploring the site as I gain more experience as