Ch.10--Rethinking Ed.

Rethinking Education in a Technological World

And exhale. Basically Chapter 10 of Collins and Halverson’s Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology sums up the entirety of the book. “We argue for a new vision of education” (p. 128). Finally, we see proof that this supposedly unbiased book was the whole time in fact biased; I’m not surprised, as I’ve been pointing out all along, but to see them admit it was a shocker! Anyways, the book breaks down the rethinking of education into learning, motivation, what is important to learn, careers, the transitions between learning and work, educational leadership, and the role of government in education. So we have a lot of rethinking to do.

Rethinking Learning

This was a topic throughout the previous chapters about the Knowledge Revolution and the learning for life concept. We learned about the prevalence of just-in-time learning as opposed to the just-in-case learning and how our educational needs are being met in other ways than the traditional classroom.

Rethinking Motivation

Apparently current schools do a laissez-faire job at motivating students. “…50% of high school students are bored every day in their classes. This section revisits the idea of handing over educational responsibilities to the students and fostering learning in areas of interest that pertain to them. I didn’t like that they suggested more computer-based learning than personal instruction form a teacher. They said that teachers could assist when students needed additional help that the computer couldn’t provide, and that individualized learning would help to get rid of the bad image you obtain when you don’t understand something that other students get. I think this is ridiculous because they’re trying to eliminate reality, and the reality of it is that you can’t get rid of stigmatizations just like that, and even if you eliminate in one setting, the real world is always there to slap you. And although technology can be a motivational factor in some ways, it also can be a hindrance.

Rethinking what is Important to Learn

I found it interesting that our current curriculum is based on medieval trivium, “which consisted of logic, grammar, and rhetoric, and quadrivium, which was made up of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy” (p. 133). But my favorite part of this section was when they said, “Therefore, students’ time might be better spent in learning how to use mathematical tools to solve real-world problems, rather than learning how to mimic computer algorithms” (p. 134). This is dumb, not everyone can afford a computer, but everyone can learn math equations. Not everyone can comport a computer everywhere, but you can your memory. What happens when the tool breaks down? I see importance in both learning how to use the tools and how to mimic them.

Rethinking Careers

This section focuses on the fact that careers aren’t lifelong, like they once were. Now we have to reinvent ourselves as the times and trends of life change. This emphasizes the importance of lifelong learning and the new trend of working for a while, and then going back to school, and then back to the workforce. Hated the fact that they published we will probably end up working into our 70s and 80s.
Rethinking the Transitions between Learning and Work
This section suggests counseling offices that offer job match up services and networking opportunities. The funny thing is that we actually have these. They’re called temporary job services and whatever that job service they offer at the DMV here is called. While it’s a good idea, why can’t people be responsible for their own networking and job transitions; sure it’s difficult, but that’s what sorts out the determined and the undetermined.
Rethinking Educational Leadership
Collins and Halverson discuss that leadership in education needs to go beyond reform and basically needs to do take a stand and incorporate all of their previously mentioned ideas.

Rethinking the Role of Government in Education

Government has always been a big factor in the educational department. So, Collins and Halverson suggest that government also consider everything they’ve had to say.
The book ends by appealing to technology leaders that might be reading the book to take a stand and accept the challenges that await them in the world of education reform and equity. May the force be with them as “according to a recent survey from the Education Trust, America is the only industrialized country in which today’s young people are less likely than their parents to earn a high school diploma” (p.145).

This book has inspired me to light a fire (and burn it). Just kidding, at least it got me thinking on various levels (of ridiculousness and practicality). I’m glad it’s over and the new thinking I have gained is that it’s good to read many views, including books and articles that upset you so that you have a plethora of opinions and ideas that you can use to sculpt your own views. As a teacher, I will share such resources with my students so that they too can learn the importance of seeing through different lights and angles.