Certainly with web 2.0, schools are rapidly changing. New teachers are familiar and comfortable with technology, but don't always know how to use it with students for educational purposes. On the other hand, those who have been teaching for 15+ years are less certain about the benefits of technology and can easily find any number of reasons to stick with the tried and true. Bridging this gap will be imperative if we are to bring schools into the 21st century.
In this chapter, the author reported several surprising ideas about the future of education. 20% of those who were surveyed thought that the physical location of schools would matter little as technology began to connect students far and wide. For those living in small, rural towns or villages, this will truly open their world. Another finding was that 20% felt that students would no longer be grouped by age, but by ability; a touchy concept in the educational world. In addition to this, 43% of respondents agreed that student achievement would be monitored by software. We are already seeing this trend as students work with Lexia Reading or Larson Math, for example. Clearly, teachers and schools are in for big changes as we move forward to meet the new challenges and opportunities provided with technology.
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Part of what concerns me about distance education is that we could throw a few laptops in the middle of rural Alaska and claim that we had met the needs of the students. Tune it next week kids!
ReplyDeleteI think no matter how advanced we get, we need to make sure that the community, whether it's online or in person, stays intact. Just as schools do in real time, in cyberspace we need to be cognizant of the needs of the learner.