Rethinking Chapter 8

Rethinking Technology Chapter 8 | How schools can cope with new technologies.
Driving Factors of education through technology: Customization of material by providing learners with personalized ways to access information and support along the way. Interaction between computers and users. The computer can quickly give performance feedback to the user. Learner control which puts the student in charge of what they are learning. They can follow a path of information in almost any direction that appeals to them. Students feel a sense of proud ownership because it was their choice instead of someone else’s.
The recent trend of standardized testing and uniform accountability pushes for all classrooms to teach similar material. With technology becoming increasingly popular with students of all ages, how can technologies customization, interaction, and learner control mesh with standardized curriculum? There is going to need to be a compromise somewhere performance-based assessment, new curriculum design, and the new approaches of the digital world.
Performance Based Assessments
Certifications: Academic skills such as passing an exam on English competency for a specific grade level. Once the exam requirements are met, the student can move on to the next level. Generic skills like resource allocation and working with others. Technical Skills such as the certification needed to become a mechanic.
The problem with these skills is that many students may not know the path they want to take in education. Maybe these routes are too specialized. The book argues that students will feel more proud of their ownership over their education. I think that they are more able to become interested in the topics due to their feeling of control, but will that lead to self guidance? I feel that many students would become lost in the sea of following a specific path. Also, they could become certified in a bunch of things that they are interested in but will that combination mean anything to an employer? What if I were to just take a whole bunch of random college classes that were interesting to me but didn’t really mesh in the big picture of a degree. I could argue that I got strait A’s in all of the classes but the employer may not respect that background because I didn’t complete a degree. If the students are able to choose when they want to take the tests, what if the students just never take them. Of course this means that they do not get to advance, and that it should be part of their overarching intrinsic motivation. But will this cause more kids to fail that just have not quite developed that sense of motivation?
New Curriculum Design
Currently student’s age fits to the curricula. Students of the same age are not necessarily of the same mental learning ability. Possibly if the curriculum was fit to the interest of the student, age would not be as much of a problem. Maybe some students would be given the chance to excel in an interest curriculum quicker than if it were based on age.
Possibly work as an apprentice type relationship. Stages 1 – 4. Where 1’s are introductory, 1’s work with 3’s, 2’s work with 4’s, 3’s mentor 1’s and 4’s mentor 2’s. Once they become teenagers they have many options. The state would pay up to a certain amount of certifications no matter what age the learner completed them at. These mixed age classes would be made up of students who picked to be in them, helping to alleviate motivation problems. This is great because it helps answer the “when are we gunna use this” question because they already know how they will.

New approaches in a digital world
Education policy is swinging away from uniqueness and creativity. I really like the idea of bringing AP classes to poorer schools through the use of teleconferencing.