Friday, September 14, 2012
Why School? TED ebook author rethinks education when information is everywhere.
The Internet has delivered an explosion of learning opportunities for today’s students, creating an abundance of information, knowledge, and teachers as well as a starkly different landscape from the one in which our ideas about school were born. Traditional educators, classrooms, and brick-and-mortar schools are no longer necessary to access information. Instead, things like blogs and wikis, as well as remote collaborations and an emphasis on critical thinking skills are the coins of the realm in this new kingdom. Yet the national dialogue on education reform focuses on using technology to update the traditional education model, failing to reassess the fundamental model on which it is built.
In Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere, educator, parent and blogger Will Richardson challenges traditional thinking about education— questioning whether it still holds value in its current form. How can schools adjust to this new age? Or students? Or parents? In this provocative read, Richardson provides an in-depth look at how connected educators are beginning to change their classroom practice. Ultimately, Why School? serves as a starting point for the important conversations around real school reforms that must ensue, offering a bold plan for rethinking how we teach our kids, and the consequences if we don’t.
Why must schools change how they teach? What’s at stake?
Schools were built upon the fundamental that teachers and knowledge and information were scarce. That is no longer the reality. Now, as so many more of us gain faster and broader access to the Web, all of those things are suddenly abundant. That means that the traditional role of school, to deliver an education, is quickly becoming less and less relevant. If we continue to see schools as the place where our children go to master a narrow list of content, knowledge and skills that were originally defined almost 150 years ago, we risk putting those kids out into the world with little idea of how to take advantage of the explosion of learning opportunities that now exist. The problem, however, is that most “reform” efforts are aimed at simply doing what we’ve been doing better, almost exclusively in the form of raising test scores. But doing “better” on measures that don’t account for this huge shift we’re in the midst of is the absolute wrong emphasis. Instead, we need to think very differently about the experiences, outcomes, skills and literacies we desire for our kids when they come to school.
Every generation seems to think its students are different. How are today’s youth different in terms of how they gather and absorb information?
Students in the K-12 system have never known a world without the Internet. No question, some kids have had more access than others, and that digital divide is something that we must address with more focus. But for the vast majority who have access, information and answers are a Google search away. They expect to use their technology to get their answers…except in school. In school, we ask them all sorts of questions that they could answer with their phones or laptops, but we don’t let them. So, I think the biggest difference is that our children are connected to people and to knowledge in ways that no other generation before them has been. We have not fully realized all of the ramifications of that, and in large measure, those who oversee our education systems have not yet begun to understand that this is a much different time for learning.
With so much information out there, it seems that finding information is easy but assessing it is tricky. How important are critical thinking skills?
Critical thinking skills around information have never been more important. For all of the value that comes with individuals being able to publish freely and widely to the Web, the huge potential downside is that we haven’t developed the literacies that are required to make sense of all that unedited content that’s out there now. In the scarce world, almost everything we consumed was edited or checked by someone else. Now, each one of us has to have the dispositions and skills to edit the world as it comes to us. Again, this is a huge problem for school systems that were designed for a different time, and it’s an even greater challenge since few if any assessments that we give kids ask them to make sense of an abundance of unedited media and information.
What can schools do to implement some of your ideas?
It’s a difficult moment for schools and the administrators and teachers who in large measure care deeply about kids but haven’t fully understood or acclimated to this moment of abundance we find ourselves in. Most policy makers and businesspeople are focused on finding more and more efficiencies in the system, and they see technology as a way to “deliver” that traditional education to get “better” results needing fewer and fewer teachers while making greater and greater profits in the process. The next 10 years are going to be exceedingly difficult for schools to navigate the gap between maintaining the traditional curriculum that reformers want and providing the learning opportunities and literacies that kids desperately need today, opportunities that few outside of education are asking for. I think the first step is that educators have to reexamine their own learning practice and move toward becoming more networked and connected themselves. It’s hard to have meaningful conversations around change in a 21st Century sense if you’re coming at it from a 20th (or even 19th) Century lens.
The educational process is pretty slow-moving and sclerotic. Do you have hope that they changes will be made?
I have hope because I see more and more individual classrooms that are beginning to understand what abundance means, places where teachers and kids are getting connected, doing real, meaningful, beautiful work for real audiences that help students become true modern learners in the process. I have hope because every one of us knows that amazing relationships and amazing learning happens in those real life places we call school, that they are an important part of our communities and histories. And I have hope because, at the end of the day, just as we’ve seen with many other institutions, old thinking simply cannot prevail. This isn’t optional. The fact is that schools are not going to go away in the near term for a host of reasons. But what we do in schools, the way we answer the “Why School?” question will change. It has to. The more that each one of us begins to get involved in the process of answering that question, the sooner and more effectively we’ll make the changes our kids are waiting for us to make.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Something to think about...
I watched this clip this morning and enjoyed it. Maybe you will as well...
Sunday, September 09, 2012
9 talks on the wonderful world of water
I read this on the TED blog and thought it was worth repeating here. Water is so much part of what I enjoy and hence my enjoyment of these..
From the driest deserts to the deepest seas, the flow of water shapes our world. Cool off from the summer heat with these nine talks that explore our intimate relationship with water.
Romulus Whitaker: The real danger lurking in the water
Romulus Whitaker shares his fascination with the remarkable reptiles that populate the rivers of India, and tells us why we should insist on cleaner water for them and for us.
Michael Pritchard: How to make filthy water drinkable
Most people wouldn’t drink water scooped from a tank of pond scum and sewage — but Michael Pritchard does, because his portable Lifesaver filter can turn even the dirtiest water drinkable.
Roz Savage: Why I’m rowing across the Pacific
Roz Savage rows her boat gently across … the Pacific Ocean. In this inspiring talk, she tells how one woman can take on the vast forces of nature.
Damian Palin: Mining minerals from seawater
When we desalinate seawater for drinking, what do we leave behind? That salty brine is full of useful minerals, says Damian Palin, and we can use them to create a mining industry that’s in harmony with the Earth.
Anupam Mishra: The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting
Newer methods aren’t always better methods. Anupam Mishra reveals how the people of India’s Golden Desert have been harvesting water for centuries, expertly conserving every drop.
Reviving New York’s rivers — with oysters!
Kate Orff introduces the heroic little oyster, an unlikely way to repair the ecosystem of New York’s canals and harbors. She encourages us to rethink the spaces around us and to get excited for ‘flupsification.’
Lewis Pugh swims the North Pole
Swimming through arctic waters that once were impassable sea ice, Lewis Pugh weathers extreme conditions to make himself heard. Combining environmental awareness and astonishing athleticism, he leaves no doubt that climate change is rapid and real.
Sonaar Luthra: Meet the Water Canary
Inspired by the simple utility of the coalmine canary, Sonaar Luthra has designed a device to test and map sources of clean drinking water. With his Water Canary, he shows us how to stop a cholera outbreak before it begins.
Rob Harmon: How the market can keep streams flowing
Outdated laws in many U.S. states create a disincentive for farmers to conserve water, and Rob Harmon thinks it’s time for a change. Bringing brewing companies together with the local farmers, he shifts the current of a broken system and puts the water back in the streams.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Videos to help you rethink education, learning, & school
Seth Godin on Education
In this short interview, Seth Godin sums up the essence of the problem.
Seth Godin on how schools teach kids to aim low
In this short clip Seth Godin says something concerning the "lizard brain" and our fear of taking risks that reminded me of the world of live stand-up presentations in work or academia. Seth said:
There are some people, if you give them a mile, they're going to take an inch." — Seth Godin
This gets at part of the problem a boss or a teacher or a conference organizer will ask you to make a presentation, and while doing something different and creative - and effective - should be welcomed by all, we retreat to doing only what is expected (less downside that way) rather than doing something creative, different, and engaging. After all, doing what is expected is pretty easy, but surpassing expectations and doing something remarkable with impact is both harder (usually) and comes with an increased risk of failure. Even when we give people a mile and encourage creativity and nonconformity, it still seems like too many play it safe and take only an inch. I can't help but think that the habits learned in formal schools across the world at least in part contribute to this cautious approach to doing things differently.
RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms
This is an RSA animation of Sir Ken Robinson's second talk at TED. This echoes my sentiments exactly. You can see the live version of this TED talk here.
Born to learn
I love the simple animation and flow to this presentation on learning. We are indeed "born to learn" and we are naturally curious creatures. But does your school stimulate that curiosity and light the sparks in students. My favorite teachers did when I was a kid. Although my secondary school experience was a bit of a blurry bore, I remember the good teachers I had who helped me and inspired me in spite of the imprefect system.
Dr. Tae — Building A New Culture Of Teaching And Learning (or "why school sucks")
I love this presention by American physicist Dr. Tae. In the presentation Dr. Tae touches on the depersonalized nature of the large lecture hall with the "tiny professor somewhere down there" in front going through the material but without engagement or connection with the students. If one of the goals of education is to "have a lively exchange of ideas," the depersonalized one-way lecture seems to be an outdated method for stimulating this exchange.
Shawn Cornally — The Future of Education Without Coercion
Shawn Cornally is a young, passionate teacher who shares his perspective and experiences in this TEDx talk.
Finland's education success
Here's a short clip from the BBC reporting on Finland's success with schools. They enjoy great success, but do not have a test-driven environment. While no place is perfect, we could learn a lot by examining what Finland is doing in their schools.
Japanese documentary: Children Full of Life (part 1/5)
I like a lot of what I see in elementary schools in Japan (although I am much less excited about public junior and senior high schools). Here is part one of five from a wonderful documentary which gives you an evocative look inside one 4th-grade class. You can't helped but be moved. You can see all the clips in this post from last year.
A word from my favorite astrophysicist: Neil deGrasse Tyson
Here's a fantastic audio interview on science literacy with one of my modern day heros, Neil deGrasse Tyson. Not just for science teachers, however. This is interesting stuff for all reasonable humans. I agree with Dr. Tyson. Inspiring stuff. Listen to the whole thing here. Here's a slide featuring a quote from his interview:
"The flaw in the educational system, as far as I see it, is that you live your life – the teacher and student – in quest of A’s. Yet later in life, the A is irrelevant. So then what is the point of the school system? It’s missing something. It is not identifying the people who actually succeed in life, because they’re not showing up as the straight A’s. So somewhere in there, the educational system needs to reflect on what it takes to succeed in life, and get some of that back into the classroom." — Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson