I am struck by how many times in the past few weeks I have read about our 21st century world, how quickly it has changed over the past 20 years and in contrast how slowly the nation's schools have changed. The gap between the skills our children need to be successful in the 21st century society and what is being taught in schools is growing. Although many teachers make efforts to "keep up" with technology and its affects on everyday living, it would be difficult to affect the needed changes in schools without full input and support from faculty, administration, board members, community members, state and national government. It is much bigger than what one can accomplish on their own, it needs to be larger group effort.
School 2.0, http://www.school2-0.org/ , is designed to help schools organize community discussions and make plans to meet educational goals. It encourages schools to discuss what the next generation of students will need to function in a different world than those who are currently educating them. School 2.0 guides the discussion about ways that schools need to change and how technology supports those changes.
The process begins with the people, it encourages involvement from a number of representatives from the whole community. This is one positive of the program, in my eyes, as it's time for educators to realize and accept the fact that one room, one teacher, school houses are now gone, and so is the time when teachers can close the doors to their classroom and still be successful with their students. In order to prepare our students well for what is coming their way, we must open the doors and go beyond.
School 2.0 leads these community members in a discussion of goals for their students and school. They design a school, program and instruction to support their goals. This is another important aspect, how often do we realize the needed improvements or changes in our programs, when the building or equipment is not designed to support these changes?
The group is then lead to the technology piece, exploring how technology can bring the world into the school and focuses on engaging all members of the community to educate its young. The group is guided in purchasing technology that will support the schools management needs and instructional needs.
Once all of these steps have been taken School 2.0 guides the participants in creating a well-documented plan.
I do believe School 2.0 could be an effective tool for communities to begin the process of change. There is no doubt in my mind that the process needs to happen. But, before it can the people involved need to have a strong understanding of the need. This, I believe, is the bigger challenge. Change is hard for many people, it is difficult for them to leave their place of comfort. But, without the willingness to look into the future for our students, we will not be able to prepare them for the larger world they will encounter.
Are you ready to grow? What's holding you back?
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4 comments:
I think you're spot on in your thinking. But I also think we need to look at education on a different level. A level that it has not been looked at since the Constructivist theory of the 1950s. A lot has changed in the way information and knowledge are created in our world. You are correct that we can not close our doors and pretend the we can educator our students in a room with four walls. Especially when they go home and there are no walls when they turn on their computer, their Xbox, their PSP, their cell phone. They are connected to this world of information. Whether it's Googling directions on their cell phone or looking up homework information on the web. Our students interact with informational differently today. Who is teaching them HOW to interact wit that information? We need to look at the foundations of educational pedagogy and take some time to truly look at the skills we are teaching our students in school and are those skills still relevant in today's world. Do we need to memorize all 50 states? Do we need to know how many planets are in our solar system? Or do we need to know where and how to find that information when we need it? What is more important in today's fast pace changing world. The ability to memorize facts or the ability to search, learn, and understand information?
How can we make progress with our students when schools are remaining closed? Blogs are a form of communication and collaboration, but many schools are blocking them!
Where schools and universities close off access to the "School 2.0" technologies, the learners themselves will continue to use the tools, but outside of the institution. Whatever concerns led to the censorship then become acted out with a higher level of secrecy, making either tracking offences more difficult or increasing the level of danger for the learner.
If this point is made long and loudly enough to policy makers, it might make life easier all round.
But on the bright side - they won't stop using the tools. And, because they are able to engage in learning activities outside the classroom (and it may be seen as anti-authoritarian, which is always more fun) they may actually be able to make more and better use of the tools. The downside is that in order to allow semi-synchronous communication with them this way probably means you need to spend more time out of school hours interacting with the learners.
The other possibility which springs to mind, and which could be extraordinarily valuable, is to arrange with educators in other countries to mutually mind each others backs. If someone who is working 8 hours behind the times (like Americans!) can work with a European, for instance, the student body could benefit from having someone online at times when their primary educator is asleep and from the different cultural perspective.
There's no doubt in my mind that the most critical skills that we can teach students is knowing where to find the information they need, determine its authenticity and then utilize it to develop their critical thinking skills. As the availability of resources expands the education system needs to keep up with teaching students how best to synthesize all they see. It's mind boggling to think about what the educational system will look like even 10 years from now.
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