15 educational experiences my granddaughter won't have
Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 07:07AM Avram Piltch identifies "15 Technologies My Newborn Son Won't Use" in a recent Gizmodo/Laptop post. (Read it - it's fun.) These are:
- ADSL (wired Internet access)
- Dedicated Cameras And Camcorders
- Landline Phones
- Slow-Booting Computers
- Windowed Operating Systems
- Hard Drives
- Movie Theatres
- The Mouse
- 3D Glasses
- Remote Controls
- Desktops
- Phone Numbers
- Primetime Television
- Fax Machines
- Optical Discs
About half of these things are nearly extinct already - at least in many households. My landline is gone, I no longer have a desktop computer at home, my laptop has a flash harddrive, and my movie theater attendance is probably 10% of what it once was only a few years ago.
The LWW and I are expecting again this summer. Or should I say, our son and daughter-in-law are expecting a baby girl whose due date is my birthday. (Should be an easy one to remember.) So Piltch's article put me in mind of 15 educational "experiences" that I hope this little girl won't encounter:
- Textbooks (replaced by interactive content management systems that are tailored to her needs)
- Paper library books (replaced by libraries of interactive and assistive e-books downloadable to any device)
- Paper worksheets and study guides (replaced by online guides that can be collaboratively completed)
- Classroom lectures (the lectures are on YouTube, discussion and group work are the class activities)
- Standardized tests (who cares but the politicians - I want an IEP and authentic assessment of individualized goals)
- Age-divided classrooms (replaced by flexible, changing groups of interest and ability)
- Video and audio in physical formats (the DVD is the 8-track tape of 2015)
- Report cards and parent-teacher conferences (replaced by real-time, online communications and reporting)
E-mail (replaced by educational networking sites modeled on Facebook - or a Facebook that can be segregated into professional and personal accounts)- Social networking blocking (How 2010!)
- School-owned/provided computing devices (replaced by inexpensive but powerful personally-owned devices, purchases subsidized for low income families)
- Drill and practice software (replaced by games that call for collaboration, planning, creativity and construction)
- Libraries (replaced, in concept if not in name, by Learning Commons providing a range of services students need.)
- GPA, class ranking, SAT/ACT (replaced by student-built portfolios of original and creative work that demonstrates competency and values)
- School experience as drudgery, punishment, or time-wasting (replace "Do I have to go to school today? with "I can't wait to get to school today!"
All schools will need to make these transitions to stay in business. But some, especially private, charter and magnet schools, will do it sooner. Those are the only schools I want my granddaugher to experience.
What experiences do you want your children or grandchildren to NOT have?
Reader Comments (6)
Seat time requirements would be another I'd hope my boys never have to deal with.
Nathan,
Good addition.
Doug
I'd love my granddaughter not to have those experiences, although I think the power of traditional education is such that they probably will have them. After all, the enormous changes in technology these last 50 years have had virtually no impact in the basic model of schooling.
My main thought though was a little different. Given that we will have run through most of our fossil fuels over the next 50 years, how is that going to impact on the things that our granddaughters will do in school?
Hi Lindsay,
I certainly agree that schools (and the society they serve) are slow to change. I do believe there will be schools that change more quickly and become the model for the more ponderous districts.
Good question about fuel. I guess I have faith that we will find other means to provide energy as fossil fuels become depleted.
Doug
I still feel the email would be around, perhaps with a different name. But somehow I still feel it'll stay!!
I am hoping that 'seat time' will go away as well. Too much time spent sitting down in regimented rows. In a wireless environment with media-rich gadgets do you really need the rows of desks?