1st thing we need to do is place education within its temporal context. Using the most basic tense of English tenses, and for the purposes of this presentation we have the simple past, present, and simple future. Let us begin with the past
I have pulled this image to intentionally invoke the stereotypical image of education in the early 20th century in North America It is important to note that this picture represents a model of education that was highly suited for society of that time. This is time of the invention of the assembly line which quickly moved into the culture of mass production What did the classroom environment look like… Information is individual No time for reflection Right/wrong Experimentation and risk taking is not promoted Knowledge of the system comes from the outside- from the designer All learners need acquire the same facts at the same time Success based on your ability to meet the requirements of the system
I have pulled this image to intentionally invoke the stereotypical image of education in the early 20th century in North America It is important to note that this picture represents a model of education that was highly suited for society of that time. This is time of the invention of the assembly line which quickly moved into the culture of mass production What did the classroom environment look like… Information is individual No time for reflection Right/wrong Experimentation and risk taking is not promoted Knowledge of the system comes from the outside- from the designer All learners need acquire the same facts at the same time Success based on your ability to meet the requirements of the system
Industrial Model Notice the similarities between these two images….
While the model t-has evolved significantly, education has not.
Now for the purpose of making a point I am going to make some sweeping generalizations that will hopefully do two things… Making you a little upset Prompt to identify your own practices or the practices of others which refute the statements I am about to make SCHOOLS, TEACHERS, AND THE DUTIES PERFORMED BY THE TEACHER IN THE CLASS TODAY ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME AS THEY WERE 90 YEARS AGO.
What did the classroom environment look like… Information is individual No time for reflection Right/wrong Experimentation and risk taking is not promoted Knowledge of the system comes from the outside- from the designer All learners need acquire the same facts at the same time Success based on your ability to meet the requirements of the system
Notice the disconnect between the system and the product But take note of what this student is holding! What is it? What is it a symbol of? Technology---- keep this factlet somewhere in the back of you brain because I am going to come back to it…
This is where I will hopefully assuage some of the animosity you may be feeling towards me at the moment. As much as our education system is rooted, and still exemplifies, the industrial model it is also changing. It is changing because there are what I call agents of change working within the system to change the system. Those agents of change are you! Teacher’s with an expertise in the educational application of technology assuming leadership roles within in their school communities. Your are technology advocates as such advocates for change!
We don’t know what the future of education is going to be. There is a general consensus in the literature out there that we as educators are preparing our students for jobs that have note been invented.
However we can make a pretty good guess about what the near future of education will look like
People sharing information Learning as a part of their work The using of various and appropriate technologies Making time for reflection Experimenting and risk taking Collaboration Decentralized location of authority and the capacity to act at the edge of the system where potentialities for sensing the environment, identifying opportunities and challenges to action and acting upon them are located
People sharing information Learning as a part of their work The using of various and appropriate technologies Making time for reflection Experimenting and risk taking Collaboration Few things need to happen Students will have to re-conditioned - as classroom become learning communities … and eventually networked learning communities -- it is the differences between these communities that will strengthen,deepen, and make the learning process exciting. Again coming back to the idea that sameness= equality Decentralized location of authority and the capacity to act at the edge of the system where potentialities for sensing the environment, identifying opportunities and challenges to action and acting upon them are located
Current conceptualizations of sociocultural theory draw heavily on the work of Vygotsky (1986), as well as later theoreticians (see, for example, Wertsch, 1991, 1998). According to Tharp and Gallimore (1988) "This view [the sociocultural perspective] has profound implications for teaching, schooling, and education. A key feature of this emergent view of human development is that higher order functions develop out of social interaction. Vygotsky argues that a child's development cannot be understood by a study of the individual. We must also examine the external social world in which that individual life has developed...Through participation in activities that require cognitive and communicative functions, children are drawn into the use of these functions in ways that nurture and 'scaffold' them" (pp. 6-7). Kublin et al (1998) succinctly state that "Vygotsky (1934/1986) described learning as being embedded within social events and occurring as a child interacts with people, objects, and events in the environment" (p. 287).
A great deal of learning is done outside the classroom. Why? Well, because on some level to our classes are simply repositories of information in which we tell our students what we they have to learn. What we have to ask ourselves is where do our students construct meaning? How often do we see learning in our classrooms? Having students do work in class in not learning? Students/kids construct meaning of the world around them through a networked learning community. Social networking tools are the future- Ning- Elgg- Facebook! Skype! Facebook is popular because of its interface design, it is popular because of the information it gives you access to- it is a networked learning community with a social agenda! What we need to do is to tap into the power of the network for educational purposes. However, there is one problem.Our system, Robert College, is static! A 2.0 school cannot be static- 2.0 school a dynamic adapting system. - [Robert College] is a cultural organization and cultural organizations do not change. "Cultures are designed to preserve existing solutions to problem- considerable social and economic capital goes into developing culturally valued solution to problems and change is risky. Stability reduces risk- "change is bad" and our schools have been designed to focus on the knowledge transmissiom mode of learning”. Student 2.0 needs to be able to anticipate the problems and then create the solutions. How can we as educators help them do this… well we need to be given permission to be different. The focus of homogeniaity and equality in this school is stiffling the teachers in the long run hurting our students. To that end, if this institution truly wants to move forward and be a real leader in education it is going to have change its culture. It is going to have to move in new and uncertain direction in which the outcomes at times may not be predictable- for that in itself is the power of social networking tools. So what does this new school school look like.
However, there is one problem.Our system, Robert College, is static! A 2.0 school cannot be static- 2.0 school a dynamic adapting system. - [Robert College] is a cultural organization and cultural organizations do not change. "Cultures are designed to preserve existing solutions to problem- considerable social and economic capital goes into developing culturally valued solution to problems and change is risky. Stability reduces risk- "change is bad" and our schools have been designed to focus on the knowledge transmissiom mode of learning”. Student 2.0 needs to be able to anticipate the problems and then create the solutions. How can we as educators help them do this… well we need to be given permission to be different. The focus of homogeniaity and equality in school can at time be stiffling for teachers and in the long run hurting our students. The new culture within schools is going to have be the culture of change. Schools are going to have to move in new and uncertain direction in which the outcomes at times may not be predictable- for that in itself is the power of social networking tools. So what does this new school school look like. Well to be honest we don’t know.
When we successfully unlock the creative potential of web 2.0 technologies and embracewe will have created student 2.0-a human being who has a capacity to make judgments,experiment, learn and adapt. Intrinsically motivated Think Innovate Adapt Discuss Learn Collaborate
However, there is one problem.Our system, Robert College, is static! A 2.0 school cannot be static- 2.0 school a dynamic adapting system. - [Robert College] is a cultural organization and cultural organizations do not change. "Cultures are designed to preserve existing solutions to problem- considerable social and economic capital goes into developing culturally valued solution to problems and change is risky. Stability reduces risk- "change is bad" and our schools have been designed to focus on the knowledge transmissiom mode of learning”. Student 2.0 needs to be able to anticipate the problems and then create the solutions. How can we as educators help them do this… well we need to be given permission to be different. The focus of homogeniaity and equality in this school is stiffling the teachers in the long run hurting our students. To that end, if this institution truly wants to move forward and be a real leader in education it is going to have change its culture. The culture is going to have to become a culture of change. It is going to have to move in new and uncertain direction in which the outcomes at times may not be predictable- for that in itself is the power of social networking tools. So what does this new school school look like.
