This online education discussion has been very intriguing to me. I really liked the video we watched in class last week from TED.com. Come to think of it, all of the videos we have watched so far in class have been really interesting! :) I think that some really great points were brought up by Sir Ken Robinson on the Ted Talks video. I really liked how he mentioned that "human communities depend on a diversity of talent." I interpreted this as meaning that we all work interdependently, and each profession is an important component of the whole system. Workers who help build highways are just as important as the dentist who fills your cavity. We are all needed, no matter how big or how small of a job we have in the community.
Most importantly, I agree with Robinson's main thesis: we really do need a revolution in education. The high school drop-out rate is way too high and there are too many kids who are uninterested in education.
I can relate, though, because I, myself, was not completely happy with my high school experience. I wish high school had been more like college. Here at Sacramento State, we have a lot of interactive courses consisting of online activities to help students stay engaged and encouraged to participate, as well as an incredibly wide range of classes to choose from to meet students' individual interests. My college experience has been way, way better than my high school experience. I feel as though because of the very specific requirements for high schools in the California area, most of us have to take subjects we are really not passionate about or good at. This could be why so many high school students drop out, because they are forced to take specific classes which are too hard or classes which bore them, which is why we definitely need a revolution in education: SOON!
One of the main ways we can help revolutionize education (as suggested by Robinson) is with technology. He says that we can utilize virtual communities to connect students together and get them interested/involved in education again.
My mom is a site coordinator for after school programs and I volunteered a few times at her work last year. I was able to witness a great example of online learning. Kids sitting in a single room were able to learn from a worker at a museum in another part of the world (I think it may have been Canada) all about dinosaur bones. The children were fascinated and engaged by this type of learning. They eagerly raised their hands and were jumping out of their seats in order to participate and interact with the lecturer. Seeing a screen and being on camera, I think that the kids were much more excited and interested in learning. This was a really cool experience to witness and I am wondering if online communities really could be the future of education?
Hi Allison,I think it's true that there is definitely something lacking in our education system. The video we watched really illustrated a good point about how there's such a variety of people; not everyone "has" to go to college to have a happy and successful life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that education needs a revolution! I also have really foudnt the ted.com videos really interesting. I do think it is important for everyone to learn at least the basics, however I agree that there needs to be more ways to keep students engaged. Sometimes we need to learn things that we don't love but there should be ways to make it fun exciting and encourage learning.
ReplyDeleteThat's a cute story about the kids :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on high school being not what it should have been. I barely remember anything useful from high school. Everyone just wanted to get through the day, the students and the teachers. Here at college most students want to actually learn (because we're paying so we should actually learn things) and most professors want their students to actually do well. Had a few bad apples, but most actually care.
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