http://bigthink.com/blogs/dangerously-irrelevant
This is a blog link that our superintendent sent us today. We have an extremely block internet at our school, so closed that they can not access KWWL because it is labeled entertainment. Drives me crazy. But, we keep getting these links and articles about open access and using technology in our classrooms. I agree with that to the utmost extent but am a little confused why we get one message but act in the opposite. Maybe he is leading up to a change in the next year or so when we go to the 1 to 1 program.
All of that aside, the blog is awesome and poses some really good questions for teachers and administrators to think about. How are we going to prepare our students for the real world of technology? If we are not using in our classroom the technology that they will be expected to use in their jobs are we really doing our job? Can we continue to run our schools on the same educational foundations that have been used for decades or are we going to change with the current times and truly prepare our students for what is to come?
These are the questions that lead me to the masters program in instructional technology. I want to be prepared for when schools realize that they are out of date and need to take the plunge into the techno world that we live in. We can not continue to ignor the world around us we need to be a part of it. The video is a little dry but he makes a good point, we need to update our schools and we need to do it very soon.
Prepare them for the tech they're going to use in the real world? Then why are they buying Macs... and only Macs?
ReplyDeleteThere should be some OSX, some Windows, and some Linux in a variety of distros if they REALLY want to prepare kids for the real world.
I would agree with that, I don't think that just one platform is the best way to go. In a high school technology class they should be learning on a variety systems. That would lead to some great discussions on which works best on which types of applications and why. Then you could have them use the hackasaurus stuff you sent me to look at how they are built. Then they could learn some programming as well. There are so many things that we should be teaching kids in school that just aren't happening for what ever reason. I know many people say it all comes down to money, but there are so many free things out there that can be used it really comes down to time. Do we want to take the time to find and learn something new or do we just continute to do what we know.
ReplyDelete