Rethinking Edu Chap 7

Rethinking Edu Chap 7

read Ch. 7 of Rethinking Education (pp. 105-111); post a reflection to your reflective learning blog:
How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?
What may be lost and what may be gained? (in the education system and society due to the technology revolution.)

If we look back to the previous revolutions we have endured, we can see how pieces and parts have lived on and how some things have been added. I think this is how the technological revolution will happen too. There will be parts of our traditional education and society that will stick around and benefit the changing technological world. There will probably even be new tech parts that will hinder the entire system. My point is that there will be pros and cons to each component in the future.

What may be lost…

With the specialization of education we will probably see more and more smaller specialized schools and more home schooling. Without less focus on public schooling we could lose parts of our social cohesion. Diversity is good, but with less places for students of different backgrounds to interact it may create more divisions between groups.
Another divide that we may see is the expanding gap between educated and non-educated citizens parallel to the gap between wealth and poverty. We call this the digital divide. Some students have much better access than others to advanced technological tools that can help their education. I think this is very evident already. Some schools are advancing through 1:1 laptop initiatives and others may not even dream such a thing. It is not a matter of slowing down access for privileged students, but making those tools more available to poorer/less affluent students.
Will the increased dependency on using computers reduce everyday personal communication skills? People can go to college, work, and even shop without ever leaving the house or their computer desk. Will this decrease interaction with neighbors, family and friends? Pessimists argue that it will and has. Research has shown that increased use of the internet/computer has caused some people to become more lonely, depressed, and reduce contact with family members and close contacts.
Let the Education Race begin… BANG!

What may be gained…

Learners will become more engaged. When we are able to learn about things that interest us we stay tuned in better. Education can be customized to the learner using interesting topics and specialized help.
Tech optimists argue that because of schoolings competitive nature many students choose to focus on other non academic activities such as sports or drugs. This comes from the fear of feeling that they may fail compared to their classmates that are the “smart ones”. If students are able to have a stronger choice on what they would like to learn, then the ability to compare themselves to other students decreases. They will be more interested and feel more successful.
The combination of allowing parents to take back some of the responsibility of their child’s education and allowing technology to let students be in charge of their own learning will benefit the students.
All in all, it is debatable if the benefits outweigh the costs. Hopefully, these education tech tools will become less expensive and more abundant to schools and outside of schools.