In the past few weeks I've been reading two pieces: Why School? by Will Richardson and Disrupting Class by Clayton Christensen. Although I've only gotten through the introduction to the latter, I'm sensing a theme, which I will call personalized learning. Both address the fact that education in its current state is not serving our students.
Why School?
With the entirety of human knowledge accessible in my pocket (on a device I affectionately call "Steve Jobs") teachers are no longer the gatekeepers of knowledge. The details by which we assess if our students are succeeding (a.k.a. how well they perform on a standardized test) are not a reflection of the types of learners and citizens society wants nor what we as teachers should strive to cultivate. Parent's want students to love learning, solve problems, and think independently, not to be good test takers. And so Will Richardson argues that the traditional model of school is a mismatch with these big picture goals. We should be creating lifelong learners that can collaborate and create solutions to a roadblock as exemplified by Richardson's son, who used technology and the collaborative powers of the internet to teach himself to play Minecraft.
Disrupting Class
Christensen expands on this idea. He also agrees that the current model of education is broken, and the usual suspects (money, access to technology, teacher unions) are not the true culprits. He aims to prove that intrinsic motivation is the key to successfully educating students. He says that "students are actually highly motivated -- but also that schools are competing for students' time against many other opportunities that aren't related to education and, in many cases, are falling short." Schools as they are force students to conform to a one-size box, learn what the standards deem important, and display their knowledge by filling in bubbles on a multiple choice exam. Not nearly as compelling as 5 hours of Minecraft.
Personalized Learning
So how do we compete with Minecraft? I think the key is really personalized learning. With the level of access to technology there are so many ways for students to create their own learning experiences and have a voice in what they learn. I am looking forward to further exploring this idea as I continue to read Disrupting Class and possibly implementing it through action research.
Why School?
With the entirety of human knowledge accessible in my pocket (on a device I affectionately call "Steve Jobs") teachers are no longer the gatekeepers of knowledge. The details by which we assess if our students are succeeding (a.k.a. how well they perform on a standardized test) are not a reflection of the types of learners and citizens society wants nor what we as teachers should strive to cultivate. Parent's want students to love learning, solve problems, and think independently, not to be good test takers. And so Will Richardson argues that the traditional model of school is a mismatch with these big picture goals. We should be creating lifelong learners that can collaborate and create solutions to a roadblock as exemplified by Richardson's son, who used technology and the collaborative powers of the internet to teach himself to play Minecraft.
Disrupting Class
Christensen expands on this idea. He also agrees that the current model of education is broken, and the usual suspects (money, access to technology, teacher unions) are not the true culprits. He aims to prove that intrinsic motivation is the key to successfully educating students. He says that "students are actually highly motivated -- but also that schools are competing for students' time against many other opportunities that aren't related to education and, in many cases, are falling short." Schools as they are force students to conform to a one-size box, learn what the standards deem important, and display their knowledge by filling in bubbles on a multiple choice exam. Not nearly as compelling as 5 hours of Minecraft.
Personalized Learning
So how do we compete with Minecraft? I think the key is really personalized learning. With the level of access to technology there are so many ways for students to create their own learning experiences and have a voice in what they learn. I am looking forward to further exploring this idea as I continue to read Disrupting Class and possibly implementing it through action research.