January 5, 2007
Systemic Change in K-12 Schools
Thanks to the Eide's (one of my must-read blogs) for pointing to the Time article on the current state of our schools. Their assessment is correct when they note that:
...the solutions are not so easy - because the quality of teaching depends on the quality of training by the teacher, the time available for instruction in an already crowded curriculum, and the quality of the teacher-student interactions. Putting students in front of computer terminals is no answer to technological training. Powerpoints are one thing, but programming or designing is another.
I could not agree more. When teaching my course on Integrating Technology in the Curriculum to K-12 teachers, we spend quite a bit of time discussing why effective use of technology is so difficult. The inevitable conclusion is that the problems that schools face today run much deeper that the speed of processors or even good design of a Webquest.
With change happening at such a rapid pace, it is debatable whether the current educational system can change fast enough to effectively compete. It is likely that another competing system will emerge that provides a completely different approach. The risk is that such an emergent system would be private, and an immense gap could be created that makes the current rich/poor school divide seem small. Given the risk, it is worth every effort to work toward transformation of the current system.
TIME.com: How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century
Posted by Rovy at January 5, 2007 5:36 PM
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