Education Futures - Latest Comments

Re: Computers will revolutionize education?

John Moravec — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:24:03 -0000

Who says technology can't be humanistic?

Re: Computers will revolutionize education?

C. Tschofen — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 12:31:51 -0000

I've seen what Brynja's seen, and that raises questions about the definition of "teaching," which is often a teacher-centric, rather than student-centric activity, in spite of desires and rhetoric to the contrary. The role of teachers as information delivery systems is really ingrained, and even those trying to overcome this get whacked down with the "accountablilty" and "standards" rhetoric.

The idea that students know more than teachers about technology-- yes and no. The critical use and assessment of technology resources and connectivist processes are still pretty nebulous skills for most folks.

In terms of embedded worldview, there's a parallel/convergent mood on Clay Burell's site:

"I feel a pull to pull back from the tools, and gravitate more toward meaning ... I’m really much more interested in thinking critically about cultural factors that retard education than I am about tools that, used retardedly, enable us to learn conventional unwisdoms more efficiently. In other words, I want to fight the idols of the mind that we worship instead of question."

And as to human capital development... haven't had enough coffee yet :-) But there's something mulling about how the techno-centric driver for this question means that I can't quite embrace it without at least some humanistic boilerplate. :-)

Re: Social media and intercultural education

Maya Frost — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:18:36 -0000

Thanks for the nod about the book I'm writing!

And yes, things really are changing radically, thanks to social media and a number of other factors. Thousands of students around the world have already figured out that they can have a fantastic study abroad experience--and can afford to stay for a year instead of just a few weeks--by going directly instead of through a heavily-padded university program. Average cost for an indie study abroad semester with FULL credit: less than $5,000, including airfare, visa, housing, food, excursions, tuition and everything else.

It's a crying shame that scarcely two percent of all US higher ed students study abroad, and it's outrageous that many universities are refusing to offer credit to their students who are looking at putting together their own study abroad plan. This will change as more students learn about their options--including using social media to connect directly with those who can help them in every facet of arranging their own wonderful experience abroad.

Study abroad coordinators in it for the money should be shaking in their boots, but those who really do care about getting more US students to experience life abroad should celebrate: once students understand the freedom they have, those study abroad numbers are likely to soar. There is certainly plenty of room for improvement.

Re: Social media and intercultural education

Zoey Chant — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:53:59 -0000

I utterly agree that social media is now pretty much the most important presence on the internet. Looking at my own online behaviour, not to mention that of students and 'study abroaders' I deal , I can see that things have changed radically. I now read blogs, and user generated content at least as much, if not more than I do other 'official' sources. I use social networks to diarize, to arrange my social life, and to keep in touch, forums and review sites like trip advisor to find hotels, blogs for music news and current affairs. I am less and less reliant on big search engines and increasingly find my way through the internet via a cluster of favourite social media sites. Cross-cultural exchange has never had a better opportunity to become widespread and open to all - I welcome the increased presence of social media wholeheartedly!

Re: Computers will revolutionize education?

Brynja Gudjonsson — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:29:18 -0000

P.S. Love the pic of the Commodores.

Re: Computers will revolutionize education?

Brynja Gudjonsson — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:27:08 -0000

I have frequently interacted with teachers in schools and found that their personal technological knowledge is limited, so how can the computer be a tool when the classroom leader cannot operate the tool? Teachers have talked about how they limit the use of internet as a research tool and I have yet to encounter a highschool teacher that teaches the students how to use Write and Excel programs or how to distinguish a good internet source from a bad one. Teachers often lament the fact that Word keeps the students from learning how to spell words, yet I have learned how to spell words more accurately because of the spell check.
The fault does not lie with the technology, since as is mentioned above technology is a tool, but with the inability of schools and education to keep up with the time. Really who can fault teachers who spend endless hours reporting on student progress, to administrations, to parents and students, who can now access their scores, grades and whatnot from their phones if they like. Where do teachers find the time to learn about and implement technology in the classroom.
Even at the higher ed level, where I provide ed tech support I spend hours convincing people that technology can be useful, not too much work and beneficial to their teaching.
Another thought is that students most likely know a great deal more about computers, internet and other technology tools than the teacher, so who would want to put him or herself in a position of the learner when faced with a room full of children or teens.

I agree with the babysitting notion and wonder how much worse it will get before it gets better for students and teachers?

Re: Computers will revolutionize education?

John Moravec — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:33:46 -0000

I agree with Carmen on why computers haven't worked in education. I feel that the problem is that little consideration has been given to the purposive use of computers in education. In fact, perhaps we should forget about "education" altogether, and refocus on using technologies for human capital development. With this change of focus, what new purposes might computing technologies serve?

Re: Computers will revolutionize education?

C. Tschofen — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:10:53 -0000

One theme I keep hearing in floating the “we won’t/don’t need schools” proposition is the fear, among many others, of unleashing or not addressing what people see as the otherwise (arguably) contained social ills our current educational settings are called upon to “solve.” It’s easy to get impatient with the “babysitting” function of schools in light of all the current and future potential for meaningful education, but I have to wonder if the education futures discussion has to have a more concrete response to these concerns in order to realize its full, leapfroggy potential… and I sure don’t have one. And I’m not the first to posit that the reason computers in schools haven’t caused an education revolution is that a.) they’re in schools :-) and b.) computers do not equal education-- they’re tools/elements in a system, albeit potentially revolutionarily enabling tools/elements. Entrenched/unexamined worldviews on the process, goals and even definition of education, with or without technology, seem to be more the issue.

Re: Computers will revolutionize education?

Toby — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:02:36 -0000

"Does the future need schools?" - No.

Does the future need computers? - No.

Re: Moving beyond Education 2.0

Bidyadhar nayak — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:39:04 -0000

Today's education aims at constructing knowledge to become the global member of knowledge driven society.In this context,the adoption of 3.0 education pillar in our education landscape is a matter of great importance.The 3.0 concept of education needs to to be implemented to equip every learner to face the emerging challanges of 21st century.

Re: Going green: Our post-industrial imperative

Bill Farren — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:51:43 -0000

Thanks for this list and especially for adding no. 20. It seems like it's often forgotten amidst the techno-hoopla.

One of the issues with no. 17 on the list is that schools and employers do not seem to recognize informal learning. If we say we value it, then schools and employers will need to recognize its use toward a degree, prof-ed, salary increas, etc.

About no. 19: Most kids start school not being afraid of failure (in an academic sense). Soon however, they learn that schools frown upon failure through their use of grades. Students, at all levels, are penalized for "coloring outside the lines"--which seems to be the place where inventiveness, joy and learning are often found.

Be well.

Re: StoryTech: a Personalized Guidebook to the 21st Century

Bob-RJ Burkhart, LCDR-USNR, Re — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:54:51 -0000

Eagarly awaiting revised version with more TIPS, Tricks & traps to avoid for delivering effective "blended visual learning" ...

Re: Change is accelerating: Get ready!

Roy — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:54:43 -0000

I read Fantastic Voyage, The Age of Spiritual Machines and The Singularity is Near, and they changed my life. I even found some of his lectures on Itunes and I find myself impatiently awaiting his next book.

Recently read another incredible book that I can't recommend highly enough, especially to all of you who also love Ray Kurzweil's work. The book is ""My Stroke of Insight"" by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. I had heard Dr Taylor's talk on the TED dot com site and I have to say, it changed my world. It's spreading virally all over the internet and the book is now a NYTimes Bestseller, so I'm not the only one, but it is the most amazing talk, and the most impactful book I've read in years. (Dr T also was named to Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People and Oprah had her on her Soul Series last month and I hear they're making a movie about her story so you may already have heard of her)
If you haven't heard Dr Taylor's TEDTalk, that's an absolute must. The book is more and deeper and better, but start with the video (it's 18 minutes). Basically, her story is that she was a 37 yr old Harvard brain scientist who had a massive stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain. Because of her knowledge of how the brain works, and thanks to her amazingly loving and kind mother, she eventually fully recovered (and that part of the book detailing how she did it is inspirational).

There's a lot of learning and magic in the book, but the reason I so highly recommend My Stroke of Insight to this discussion, is because we have powerfully intelligent left brains that are rational, logical, sequential and grounded in detail and time, and then we have our kinesthetic right brains, where we experience intuition and peace and euphoria. Now that Kurzweil has got us taking all those vitamins and living our best ""Fantastic Voyage"" , the absolute necessity is that we read My Stroke of Insight and learn from Dr Taylor how to achieve balance between our right and left brains. Enjoy!

Re: Sidebar widgets for Leia

David — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 20:36:02 -0000

Thanks for that...works just fine.

http://www.fiveandunder.com...

all the best

David

Re: Bill Gates on keeping America competitive

Igor — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:10:53 -0000

The most of business owners do not possess Bill Gates' intellectual potential. Their weak minds resist the idea of smarter employees at the instinctive level. Employees who are smarter than the bosses are always considered to be dangerous. Therefore no effort will be taken by companies in the direction of educating people. As long as Chinese robots soldiers is a very near future, it is the responsibility of the government to encourage students to study. It will be hard, because no motivation to sudy is available for younger guys. Intellect is not associated with success and wellbeing. I would say the more degenerate you are, the higher chance you have to succeed. The government has to take radical measures to keep America competitive, otherwise China might decide to expand some day and there will be nobody able to oppose the yellow race.

Re: Minnesota delegation leapfrogs to DI Global Finals!

Paul C. Ernst — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:44:11 -0000

Hey, aren't those frogs supposed to have gopher heads???

Re: Owatonna’s model for the 21st century

Matt McCartney — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:29:02 -0000

Our classroom had an amazing time sharing their insight with the participates at the U of M. I wanted to share that the balls that we are using are actually exercise, or therapy balls, not medicine balls.

I have found it very exciting to see how much more collaboration occurs during class time when the students are not confined to a desk. They are very quick to team up and work with their fellow classmates. This is great in most circumstances, but becomes difficult during situations that require sustained individual work, similar to MCA (Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment)testing that we just finished. I will be very curious to see how my students fair on these tests.

My students have shown strong progress this year, but the biggest growth they show are in areas that are not tested. Things like public speaking, interacting with adults, technology skills on the computers, problem solving on the computer and working together with others.

It has been an amazing year! I will periodically check back on this website if others choose to write questions.

Re: A new look for Leapfrog Institutes

John Moravec — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:11:42 -0000

Oh, geez...

Re: A new look for Leapfrog Institutes

gramma — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:06:09 -0000

I like it ....anxious to see what others think......love and kisses

Re: My doctoral dissertation is a free download now

MAJID — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:07:40 -0000

HI
GOOD DAY
I AM IRANIAN AND MY DEGREE MD IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH.
I SAW YOUR WRITTING AND AT SOON I SEND MY VIEW ABOUT IT.
THANKS AND BY

Re: Skills for a Knowledge/Mind Worker Passport (19 commandments)

trib — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 03:53:56 -0000

I'm glad I could inspire you!

Re: Owatonna’s model for the 21st century

Tom Tapper — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:58:38 -0000

Our fifth grade students in Mr. McCartney's class waited eagerly to tell their story to the many guests attending the Horizon Forum. They waited patiently for more than 15 minutes sitting on mats, chairs, the floor, and medicine balls until the call from the University came through. I can tell you as an observer in the classroom, their enthusiasm was genuine and their desire to share their stories very real. They easily were able to demonstrate an entirely new skill set; digital literacy. Our testing data (comparative NWEA scores) indicate that they are performing as a class, at least as well as their peers in more traditional classrooms. The class was chosen at random. Our biggest challenge moving forward is two-fold. First, we already have a demand from other teachers in our District to replicate the work in Matt's classroom; something that limited resources will find us hard to meet. Second, we don't have a similar classroom 'ready' for those students in Matt's classroom as they move into the sixth grade. We will continue to watch and monitor this group of students in subsequent years, both in achievement as well as in school attitudes.

Re: One month with the Nokia N800

Simon — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:04:07 -0000

Great review - really helpful. Especially on the Skype video issue. Wouldn't have guessed that this limitation existed. Glad I found this post!

Re: Where is the drive for entrepreneurship?

James Kahl — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:00:23 -0000

Check out the Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship. www.entrepreneurship.umn.edu

I'm a student who came to the UofM (specifically Carlson) with the sole intent to get a business education (electrical engineering background) and start a business. There are an amazing amount of tools and resources provided to the student. I am an example of someone who is reaping the benefit of the initiatives being taken at the University.

The Star Trib article referred to internal ventures but I think the greatest resources we can tap at the U are our students. Give them the tools necessary and they will go out and create the businesses that employ thousands of Minnesotans and move our economy to the next level.

Re: Sidebar widgets for Leia

Burn — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:42:38 -0000

after i got the sidebar widgets working correctly, i made the files avalible for download.
you can get them here
http://www.burnstyle.net/20...