ch. 8 Reflection

The chapter begins by stating that "to effectively incorporate technology into schools, educators must understand the imperatives of the technologies that are driving this revolution". These imperatives are customization ("providing people with the knowledge they want when they want it"), interaction ("the ability of computers to give learners immediate feedback"), and learner control ("putting learners in charge of their own learning" to feel ownership and control their learning).

The author notes that the new accountability policies are producing good results without true improvement in student learning. These policies also put pressure on schools, which has fueled the drop out rate--less than 70% of the students entering high school graduate on time and 50-60% of ninth-grade minority students do not graduate on time. This is a horrifying statistic! These policies also move thinking away from being creative and toward standardizing schooling policies, which paralyzes risk-taking. This emphasis runs against the 3 technological imperatives. According to the book, schools need to provide more individual support and choice in what and how students learn as well as being engaging, interactive and more in line with student interest. Running a classroom with these characteristics is what our professors have been telling us since we entered the program so they should already show up in today's classrooms.

The book goes on to say that children spend over 6 hours over day interacting with t.v., video games, the Internet, IMing, email, and other media; therefore, policies need to change to help schools participate in this education revolution--to mix together the best of the old (traditional school policies) and new (revolution).

One way the book suggests this occur is through performance-based assessments in the form of national credentials administered by trained professionals or on the computer. Students would be allowed to apply for as many credential certifications as they desired and whenever they chose. There would be an online system that would identify which credentials were required for which careers, what students need to know for each certificate, and what methods students could obtain the required information. The certifications would cover three skill areas: academic skills, generic skills (resource allocation, working with others, acquiring and using knowledge, understanding complex systems, and working with a variety of technologies), and technical skills (those required for the workplace). Students an parents would choose the credentials based on the student’s career interests/plans. An advisory system would also be in place to inform people about which credentials were valued by employers in various job categories. After taking the test, it would be the evaluator’s responsibility to ensure students understood their strengths and weaknesses of their performance as well as how they may improve on their next attempt (it can be taken as many times as needed to pass). I think this could be a potential problem for the evaluators. Other problems could occur if students are not sure of a career path and this system is dependent on the integrity of the credentialing system. This is a very interesting system. I would like to see how it works and may be interested in teaching for this new system. One concern I have is that there is too much emphasis too early on choosing a career path.

Another way the book suggests the old and new mix is through new curriculum designs including new forms of teaching and learning as well as new ways of organizing student-teacher interactions. Students would be placed in classes according to similar goals and interests and traditional academic skills would be woven in. A model could look as follows: students begin as novices working on a small project of their own; after they gain experience, they would work on bigger projects with others; then they are ready to act as mentors for the novices; lastly, they are ready to serve as a project leader. Teenagers would be trusted to follow various paths. I am not sure I would feel comfortable giving them free reign. Also, some students may earn their credentials quickly and go to college at 15 or 16; I think this is too early for a student this age to head off to college. Apparently the government would be expected to pay for students’ preparations for certain certifications so anyone could take the tests (mixed-ages). I do not think anyone should expect the government to pay for anything anytime soon because it is currently in trillions of dollars of debt. I am in favor of using technology in the classroom but AGAIN the book suggests using video games in the classroom. Many educators, including me, are weary of this. I would like to be provided with an example of HOW this would be implemented and empirical research that it was effective. That would make me feel more comfortable about using them in my classroom. The book also mentions using the online discussion part of Blackboard and other course management systems for shy students.

Lastly, the book an additional way to mix old and new educational policies is through new approaches to equality. Wealthy families have fled public schools because of its standardized curricula and high dropout rates have caused poor families to advocate for alternative to public schools as well. This has also caused unequal access to technology. The book suggests offering new, technologically mediated educational experiences for poorer schools and a system of tracking what students are learning. Technology can be a great asset to schools if only they would use it (e.g. video conferencing, virtual tutoring, etc.).