Web EDU

What will the world be like in the year 2020?  That certainly is a thought provoking question.  It’s hard to predict what the world will be like twelve months from now, let alone trying to imagine what it will be like in twelve years.  One thing is for certain, it will be different.  The question is will it be better or worse than it is today?

My initial reaction to this question is not to think about what life will be like for me in the year 2020, but to think of what it will be like for my children.  My daughter will turn fifteen and my son will be twelve that year.  What will our country look like?  What will the economy look like?  What will education look like?  Naturally, the hope of any parent is that their world will be better than ours was, but how often is that actually true? 

As I was doing some background research for this blog entry, I came across a special from CNN.com called Just Imagine.  This is a series of three short videos published in November of 2007.  In the special, a group of experts and visionaries explore their ideas of what the world may be like in the year 2020.  Below is just a sampling of the idea discussed:

• Coming Together
  • The importance of online communities will continue to grow
    • Sharing knowledge and experience through online communities will reshape how learning occurs
    • The most powerful work in the world is happening online.
  • Shibuya University
    • “People think that education lasts until you graduate from school. But I think that people should continue to learn even after graduation.” – Yasuaki Sakyo
    • Shibuya University essentially is a new system of education that is deeply rooted in its community.  Networking and connections are the basic principle of this university.
• Future Science
  • Solar Energy
    • In the future, alternative fuels such as solar energy need to be further explored to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and to address climate change issues.
  • Nanotechnology
    • Future advancements in nanotechnology will have a tremendous impact in medicine including reducing the cost of medicine and increasing the accessibility of healthcare. 
• Future Cities
  • Building Greener
    • Future cities need to be designed to learn from nature
      • Imitate photosynthesis by harnessing the power of solar energy.
    • Increase the use of public transportation to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

The main point that I got from viewing these presentations was that we need a revolution in the way we think.  If this is true and we experience a revolution in the way that we think over the next twelve years, we will see wide-ranging changes in our world.  From governments, to energy, to education, to technology, and all areas in between, our world will look different in the future.

The focus of the remainder of this post will be on the future of education.  I believe that education will lead to changes in all of the other areas mentioned above.  There is a direct correlation between the education system and the changing world.  The problem has been that the education system has not been able to adapt and change as quickly as the rest of the world.  World events impact education and education impacts world events.

In reading the March edition of NEAToday, I came across an article titled Anti-terrorism 101.  I found this to be a prime example of how education is going to have to change to keep up with a changing world.  It has been stated many times that today’s elementary students will work in fields that have not even been created yet.  This article provides a great example of how some schools are already beginning to make changes to their curriculum.

Joppatowne High School in Maryland is the first school in the nation to offer a program considering the economics of education.  The program will give students a choice of three different tracks that will begin their preparation to possibly pursue a future in the homeland security industry.  According to the school’s website, “the homeland security industry will grow from a $40 billion business in 2004 to an estimated $180 billion industry in 2015.”    

In my opinion, programs like this represent the future of education.  These programs allow students to gain education that is far more specific to their futures than is currently offered.  Our school system is designed to give all students a general education that they can take with them as they pursue their future endeavors whether that be in college, trade school, or otherwise.  Yet we are constantly compared to countries that focus their students’ education on areas specific to their futures.  If we want to keep up with the world, we need to evolve to that theory.  We will never be able to compete globally in education if we try to teach everything to all students.

The single greatest impact in education between now and 2020 will be advancements in technology.  When I think about how technology has changed in education from when I began teaching in 1999 and now, it is amazing.  I walked into a classroom in 1999 that had zero classroom computers and an Apple IIe computer for me that was attached to a ribbon printer.  Now, I have a new laptop computer and five desktop computers in my room.  We are blogging; using wiki’s, listening to podcasts, and even considering creating our own podcasts.  All of these are technologies that I used rarely or not at all prior to taking this class. 

That leads me to my final point which is that in the year 2020, teachers will (hopefully) receive the training and materials that are necessary to prepare students for their futures.  I’ve learned an incredible amount about current technologies in this class and I am implementing many of these things in my classroom.  If I hadn’t taken this class, I wouldn’t be doing the things that I am currently doing.  School districts need to do a better job of implementing teacher training programs to keep teachers current with technology.  We know that at the rate that technology is changing, it is a difficult task.  But it is a task that needs to be done.

We can throw all the tests in the world at kids and use them to tell us how good or bad a school is functioning, but the true test is to see what our students are doing with their education after they leave school.  We will know by the year 2020 whether or not we have done an effective job of educating today’s middle school and high school students simply by observing the world around us.  If it is a better place, we’ve done a good job.  If not, maybe our practices weren’t working.

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How would a paperless class change your role as a teacher?
I don’t think that a paperless classroom would necessarily change my role as a teacher.  I think that more than anything, it would change how I present my information to my students.  Our district does not promote the use of textbooks, therefore I use much more teacher-created materials than some other teachers may use.  In a paperless classroom, I would need to change how I presented that information, but it wouldn’t change what I was presenting.

How would paperless classes change learning?
I think that a paperless classroom would open up learning opportunities for students that they otherwise might not have the opportunity to explore.  As it is now, I do not have enough computers to operate a paperless classroom.  However, if I did, I believe that my students would have more resources available to them than if we were limited to pen and paper.  Of course, a premium would be placed on keyboarding skills and students would need to have far more technology training then they receive now.  I think learning could be more personalized, therefore creating more connection and meaning with the students and the content they are exploring.

How would you measure learning in a paperless class?
I don’t necessarily believe that assessment of learning would change drastically.  A teacher can still do all of the same assessments in a paperless classroom that they would do in a traditional classroom.  The main difference would be in how the teacher physically graded the material. 

Would a paperless space make it easier or harder to build a learning network? Why?
A paperless classroom would definitely make it easier to build a learning network.  Technology creates so many new avenues for making connections.  A teacher in a paperless classroom has more freedom to use blogs, wikis, RSS, podcast, etc.  As we have learned, all of these tools have been invaluable in building our own learning networks.  The same would happen with our students.

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My response to A Stand Against Connectivism is centered around the question of Are there parts of the theory which you find confusing?  I disagree with a few of the interpretations made by this group.  First, the statement of “the analogy of a pipe being more important than what flows through the pipe is ridiculous. Why would you need the pipe if you do not need what is to flow through the pipe?”  My interpretation of Siemen’s quote is not that he is saying that the content that flows through the pipe is not needed, rather, I believe that he is saying that without the pipe acting as a point of organization, the content will not fulfill its potential to the learner.
 

The group also questions “How can you not acknowldege what you have known as being a vital part of what you will need to know in the future? Can you have the skills of the future without relating them at all to the past?”  I believe that Siemens is stating that as educators, we need to give our students the skills that will be necessary to adapt to a changing world.  Again, he never stated that you ignore past learning.  We know that many of today’s elementary school students will work in fields that have not yet been created.  We would be doing them a disservice if we did not acknowledge that future learning is indeed more important than past learnings. 

I believe that many teachers struggle with the fact that much of the content that we teach will never again be used by our students.  I for one don’t think that I’ve ever had to find the perimiter of a hexagon in my adult life, yet it is one of the things that I learned in middle school math.  We need to teach kids the skills that they will need to be successful in the workplace of the future.

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I found a series of podcasts on the Education Podcast Network that I think would tie in perfectly to my Geography classes.  The series is called Where in the World?.  This is a series of student created podcasts that give the listener clues as to where in the world they are describing.  I chose this series for this assignment because I do a very similar activity where I give kids clues to find a location, but I do it using the overhead projector.  I like that activity, but I’ve found that it takes up alot of my classtime.  I think that by incorporating this series using the method that I will describe below, I can make much more effective usage of my classtime and still accomplish what I am hoping to accomplish.

I’ve chosen one of the podcasts in the series as the basis for this assignment (http://www.epnweb.org/player.php?podshow=http://schoolz.lps.org/sporter/Club4Cast/where am i.m4a&podcast=Where in the World&program=0027 Where Am I?)  I’m thinking that I would tie together my classroom blog with this podcast series.  The assignment for the kids will be to go to my blog to find the link to the current podcast.  From there, they will listen to the podcast and take notes on the clues that are provided.  From there, they can use both online resources and/or classroom resources (World Atlas / Globe / Etc.) to find the location that is described.  They will then return to the blog to post their answers, which I will not approve and post until the assignment deadline has passed. 

I’m thinking of this as a sponge activity that the students could access either at home or during classtime when they have finished their work early or have a free couple of minutes to work.  I’m also thinking that as a culminating activity towards the end of the school year I could have my students create their own edition of Where in the World? that we could share with one of the other 6th Grade Geography classes.

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Through the first five weeks of class, we have learned a lot about Web2.0 technologies and have been provided practice as to how they can be incorporated into our classrooms.  I for one am extremely excited about beginning the implementation of these ideas.  However, I do have one major concern:  I don’t think that I have enough computers in my classroom to do this efficiently and effectively.  We are all under immense pressure to cover our curriculum and meet our state standards.  Our classrooms are interrupted regularly for things such as assemblies, class pictures, achievement testing, and a whole host of other intrusions that take instructional time away from our students.  I’m just not sure if I can afford to take the time that will be necessary to get all of my students an opportunity to spend time on the computers.

Here is the situation in my classroom, which I realize may be better than what other teachers have to deal with:  I have 5 personal computers in my classroom plus my school-issued laptop.  My largest class has thirty students; my smallest class has twenty six students.  My building administrators do not believe in computer labs, therefore we no longer have one.  Our school library has approximately twelve computers, but we are not encouraged to spend much time there as a whole class.  Here is what I would like you to respond to:

What ideas do you have for how I, or other teachers who are in a similar situation, can effectively and efficiently integrate these technologies into our classrooms?  What have you done in your own classrooms or what have you seen other teachers do in their classrooms to deal with this type of issue?

Here are a few links that you mind find interesting:

• How to Thrive - Not Just Survive - in a One Computer Classroom
• I Have Computers in My Classroom – Now What?
• The One Computer Classroom
• One Computer Classroom Resources on the Net
• Teacher Tap

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