- Ron Burnett
- VANCOUVER B.C
- Canada
President and Vice-Chancellor, Emily Carr University of Art and Design
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Are Educational Institutions responding to the challenges of teaching and learning in the 21st Century?
The Digital Age offers all sorts of opportunities for learners ranging from the formal to the informal, from the Web to the classroom and the studio. Why do educational institutions continue to rely on traditional models of learning? Why have schedules, disciplines and departments remained the same as in the 20th Century? Why has the architecture of schools changed so little? How have learners changed?
Topics:
architecture better world education learning student
Michael Brubaker
1. No one has really taken the time to develop a ssupported theory as to what the "challenges of learning of the 21st century really are". You cannot sit on the outside looking in visiting the classroom (no matter the number) and have any idea as to challenges of the classroom. There is not a pure prescription for the "typical", "average" or "normal" classroom of the 21st century because it does not exist.
2. Funding for our public schools face a monumental dilemna which our governmental system cannot and will not face completely. First of all, let me admit my bias. The primary purpose of our "modern" legislator, be it local, state or national, is not to represent her/his constituency or to create a better society, but to be re-elected.
The generous tax breaks that state and local governments are providing corporations are creating significant problems for our public educational system across the United States. Whenbusiness attain property abatements or diversions for 10, 20 or more years, the flow of revenue into the public coffers diminish, public funds receed, funding for public projects, including our public schools diminish and our programs are left out in the cold. Schools currently across the country are facing cuts of 10 to 25% in funding. Why? Because states are facing budget shortfall with TIFs, tax free bonds and other tax breaks to businesses. These have exsculated from 9 states in 1977 to 36 in 1998.
Wake up America. Public Schools are working with the future generations for this country. Neglect them now and our country will suffer for years. Our public schools are our future. What do you wish for your children and grandchildren? What do you wish for your country? Tax breaks to corporations have a direct negative impact on our educational system. Now is the time to stop same.
M.A. Lucas-Green
@1. Disagree (respectfully:)
@2. In every of the fifty states, Americans already possess the right to avoid sending their children to "school". That legal right equals a wealth of political power. What will make us wield it? Please see http://www.ted.com/conversations/810/why_do_you_send_your_children.html
William Peterson
Tami Wells
Jacques Rabbitte
I think back to the 17th century salons of Paris and Edward Lloyd's Coffee House in early 18th century London. What about the Maqhah of arab history? Perhaps the thought of Starbucks being the nexus of commerce and education in the future is just too capitalist for people to accept still.
Got hookah?
Jacques Rabbitte
To propose a scalable alternative is to destroy the prevailing paradigm and all of its dependents. The real discussion should be whether the current paradigm is durable and, if not, what is the best way to shift?
Read Dr. Donald L Bitzer for more information on e-education. He discovered some 50 years ago that the barrier to change was the teacher lobby/establishment.
Simon Sorry can't say
Debra Smith 100+
Athena Lam 50+
I saw you're from Van - so I was actually curious - how is Emily Carr addressing your question? What's the status there? It is, after all, reputed as the most avant garde art school in Canada. :-)
Now I agree with your notion that the technology these days offers all sorts of opportunities. However, I don't think new opportunities and new methods means the tossing out of "old" methods. There isn't such a dichotomy to begin with.
One of my examples is that I believe we should still teach classical literary traditions. This isn't to indoctrinate - but just so people can trace histories (and this part schools do have to change) and [multiple] origins. It will make (as someone noted below about Harry Potter) Harry Potter make sense - and by that I mean readers will be able to appreciate the Latin & Greek roots, and the Germanic/Anglo-Saxon influences on wizards and dragons etc. It doens't make Harry Potter this wonderful island of experience - and that's it. It makes it a wonderful experience AND an interesting take on how traditions have informed works today, and how works today have reinterpreted traditions.
I'd be mindful of digital technology outright replacing these teachings, and also thinking of technology as shortcuts to everything. I think there is value in physically looking up things in the dictionary (even knowing how to!), and there is certainly value in having legible handwriting and correct spelling.
I don't think it's necessarily that the digital age is what should bring about educational institutional change, but rather that the educational institutions have continuously had the problem of being rigid. Teachers do impart knowledge, but they should also embrace new knowledge, and foster curiosity, love of learning, and critical thinking in students.
Horbaniuc Vlad
Really aren't there more interesting things in life to be learned ?
"St. Catherine College in St. Paul, Minnesota
A literature class requiring the reading of all seven J.K. Rowling books for group discussions. The final project lets students create a Hogwarts character for a computer game."
I don't see how this can help an individual in life.
As Jamie Oliver said in one of his TED conferences, we should learn how to cook first. In research for innovation we are loosing the basic skills we need to know.
Sherri Griffin 50+
First the speed at which I need new information, today staying on the cutting edge means knowing what I need to know RIGHT NOW. My university programs didn't accommodated my primary need/primary gratification.
The second area my learning needs have changed is the amount of connectivity I need to other learners. Being in a theatre of students being lectured at WITHOUT a Twitter feed or hashtag is such a uni-dimensional experience. When I can enhance my real time learning with thoughts, opinions and experiences from more then just the speaker, I retain more information and assimilate more learning.
If Educational Institutes embraced either of these issues more readily, we'd improve the system and engage more people.
Thanks for a brilliant topic! Cheers!
Victor Nocetti
They are more focused on knowledge based on the subjects they have to cover rather than let students learn.....so at the end....we don't get what's epeted from schools....we don't have happy persons, good people and people that can grow by hemselves. As long as we give students freedom to explore along with some basic foundations that learning based on doing things, on experiencing things will help to have more intelligent persons...not just persons with knowledge that they can't either apply or use.
Gabriela Ybarra
What we need to be able to do is to make connections and know where to look for information that can help us reach our goals.We need to workout how to relate with people that can enable us to achieve what we want to achieve. To develop these skills, schools would need to encourage a more collaborative learning.
I recently interviewed Sam Aldenton, a social entrepreneur who runs a charity in East London that firmly believes in learning by doing and by fostering collaboration.His contribution to the Hackney community is truly admirable!
http://capsulasdetiempo.com/en/2011/02/22/there-will-be-no-work-left-unless-we-create-it/
Jordan Miller 20+
clay blasdel
Mike Ziemski
I really like the model of higher education that's emerging at this point in time - the global university. Take courses from several universities around the country, demonstrate your learning, and receive a degree. Put the best out there on the Internet, and let the learning begin.
For the stuffy professor that believes that the classroom discussion model as been the standard of education since Aristotle, I agree with your assertion that engaging discussion is the key to learning...but Artistotle didn't have an iPad.
Educators have this belief that "traditional" education provides the basis for the ability to grasp complex concepts in linearly progressive process, preparing learners for the perpetual "next step." Yet, the goal of every college student is to "graduate." The unfortunate thing is that our society sees achieved goals as ends, rather than plateaus, and thnks that, as things progress, life should get easier (retirement, relaxation, and sittin' on the porch). The sooner we, as educators, teach our charges that life becomes more and more complex and that we need to prepare for the next complexity, the better off our educational system will be.
By the way, that would be my dissertation for my Ed.D., but I'd have to take 15 courses to come to the point of where I already am.
George Brett 30+
Here are a couple of my observations:
1) There usually is some kind of scapegoat, whether shiny new theories from Schools of Education or Fed up Teachers and now the shiny new toys of Technology.
2) There is a long history of rigid, formal process versus guided discovery.
3) There will always be children who while growing older sustain self-driven desire and need to learn more whether in formal setting, from mentors, or from their own experiences.
4) Mentor/student or Master/Apprentice has been around for a long time, I see it beginning to happen again in person or at a distance via communication technologies.
4) Education can be a paradox -- the more I've seen children and adults be subjected to classes; the more I see them shut down and turn off to retaining what is being stuffed into their 5 senses.
And so on -- basically, I think the challenge I had and have experienced with my two adult daughters is how to stimulate, support and keep a person interested, excited, a life long learner of primary, secondary, and new skills, continued scholarship, improved communication, etc., etc. With end results of being a more informed individual and hopefully a person who contributes in return to society or at least to other folks.
I appreciate recent trends in tinkering (e.g., John Seely Brown), making (e.g., O'Reilly), community (e.g., Howard Rheingold), sharing (e.g., Charles Leadbetter), and Open Systems like the Meta Univeristy c/o Charles Vest.
cORdially,
geORge brett, autodidactic arty techo eclecticist
@ghbrett
David Wees
There are many reasons for this, including resistance to change, a recognition that changes should be pedagogically sound, that they should fit within existing contracts, or such contracts should be revised, an inability to pay for changes because of limited research and development budgets, a tendency to react to changes in their environment rather than be proactive, and a host of other reasons. The upshot is, educational institutions as they are currently structured are slow to change.
However, technology is changing rapidly. You don't need to be futurists like Moore or Kurzweil to recognize that technology is changing on a much shorter time-scale than schools can deal with. The vast majority of school systems have no futurists to help them make predictions for the future, they deal with the system they have and make predictions based on it, rather than being able to step outside their system and look at alternatives.
There is an unreasonable amount of concern over the use of technology and collaboration within schools. The vast majority of parents, administrators and teachers do not understand things like wikis, creative commons, and downloading music. They do not understand the new emerging collaborative culture, even if some of them participate in it. While the debate goes on about whether students should be exposed to technology at a young age, the world changes and students come to school better adapted to the changes.
This will always be true while we use a hierarchical administrative and funding model for schools. Want to effect change in education? Listen to the innovative educators and their students.
M.A. Lucas-Green
clay blasdel
boring material. Then the worm turned. The world became digitized and tons of fun data came blasting into the minds of young people from everywhere. The new normal kid became hyper-sensitized. Daily life was a rush;. Kids were perpetually buzzed...until they walked into a classroom. Then the world slowed way down. Those who could battle their way through the boredom succeeded. Those few students who could do that were so well equipped they went on to become teachers. And now, they try to perpetuate the system. Ken Robinson is correct when he says that the goal of all education is to produce college professors.
The world changed and kids changed but teachers could not keep up. It's not that they don't care and aren't trying. They are. But very few teachers are good enough to stimulate their students. Most fail. Why should this be a surprise? Very few actors are good enough to play Stanley in Streetcar Names Desire. Sure, many will try, but there are only a few Brandos in this world. There are only a few Brandos in the teaching profession. Very few. We need to find them and pay them like any other rock star. Education needs radical changes but teachers believe that a little tinkering here and there will do it. It won't.
M.A. Lucas-Green
We can no longer avoid integrating the capital of every species, human and otherwise, as recent events have demonstrated our interconnectedness and interdependence. This all begins with how we humans socialize our youth. Education is social. Human knowledge is a network.
John Skowlund
Changes over the last generation make this approach more possible than ever. The 21st century brings convenient and inexpensive access to oceans of knowledge in all media formats as well as novel communication channels to facilitate new ways to participate, explore, discuss, collaborate, debate and listen. The proper application of Web 2.0 technology can make this possible.
The opportunity in front of us is to change the classroom from 20 kids in a box to a flexible, but guided, learning environment. This environment has no barriers to individual growth, emphasizes self learning, supports multiple learning styles, and nourishes opportunities for launching “inspirational moments”. At the same time, it provides a safety net for those who stumble off the launch pad.
Imagine a learning space with multiple learning stations to support teacher with small groups, teacher with one student, small student group collaboration with remote students via web, individual study with web access, and individual study with mentor (parent, older student or remote tutor). The classic principles (Bloom's Taxonomy/different learning styles/hard work) still apply. But new technologies bring us new opportunities.
So how do we create inspired learners?
1. Communicate the new learning approaches in ways that teachers _and_ parents can understand and use.
2. Give students guidance and access to Web 2.0 technologies to increase flexibility and freedom to explore and learn.
3. Invest in professional development for teachers to master 21st approaches and assess teachers’ application of this with students.
4. Get more parents involved in the classroom as a resource to support teachers and mentor students.
5. Guide parents on maintaining this learning environment at home.
Julia Boersma
I'm not looking for any sympathy but here is why:
Decease , Dyslexia and a hyper imagination set me back a couple of grades very early on. So by the time I was 13 I was extremely bored with what my education was providing me. I stopped studying the material I was given since when ever I got tested I could figure out my own way of solving the problems. Eventually the tests started to test not just the outcome or conclusion of any given problem but the method used to do so. My grades dropped down insanely. I had this odd artistic way of remembering and contemplating that did not fit the methods provided. So I got into a situation that even though I got all the answers right on my math test I still failed the test. And yes my way of doing math looked more like a Kandinsky painting but failing me even though I got everything right really pissed me of. So I eventually got kicked out of one school and started not going to an other.
Eventually I cheated the system and got into the most adaptive form of education I could find. I figured since the arts are by nature innovative that an artschool would have to be adaptive enough to be able to function . Even though they really want and try to be as adaptive as possible every one feels that the arts in an educational system is a struggle. For the purpose of administration even Art students get some form of grading . It a moment where you display your passion , heart and soul and within 15 minutes 6 people give you a grade. No matter what grade you get it's depressing.
Even at it's most adaptive the rules of the educational systems do nothing to help the creativity and innovative qualities of students.
The Internet increases the possibility and fun of educating your self. But I have only rarely experienced my tendency to self educate as something that was encouraged by any school.
Debra Silver 100+
I don't know if the teachers are at their level yet... though I have to admit... most of my miserable educational experience has been in Israel ... while here in Canada (for the year) I am amazed at the level and depth of study and teacher insights...
I simply wonder if work in a sweat shop is so different from some of the institutions of learning I have seen... LOL
Children definitely need the structure of a school in order to learn the basics... there is as yet no substitue for language skills... in every field... in order to reach your potential... (though I am family with a few auto-didact dyslexics who could knock your socks off)... but why can't learning be more fun? see you at TED... have to pack...
Donald Thompson
Gisela McKay 30+
Really? Those are the people you are going to use to back up your argument for the status quo?
David Wees
I can give a couple of more:
Abel (father of mathematical group theory) never attended university.
Srinivasa Ramanujan, one of the top mathematical geniuses of our time had very little formal training
Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin empire, dropped out of school at 16
Gisela McKay 30+
Earlier I had spotted the same poster referencing the mythical rugged individualist who kicks open doors and breaches new frontiers and then produces great things out of nothing with his bare hands, and no help whatsoever. I let that go so I had to comment on this one.
Donald Thompson
Gisela McKay 30+
Thank you, though, for your eloquent defense of the status quo, what with the reading comprehension and grammar. I particularly enjoyed your use of irony.
M.A. Lucas-Green
Thomas Niikura
One should not seek school as answer for anything, but a hobby one may attend if one wishes out of conscious decision. School have nothing to do with growth, learning, social interaction, or success of any sort. "Improving" school is unnecessary, for school itself is unnecessary (in the way that we view and expect them to function); that is the only way to "catch up" to technology, if one may suggest. School had a specific function; to produce working middle class men. There is no longer any use for "middle class men" since this so called technology replaced them. Now we need schools to do everything it was not meant to do.
To answer all the questions in the original thread; we, children of this age, who don't rely on school will make all the change, so need not worry nor obsess. We will use technology appropriately, with moderation, without over relying, nor undermining and compromising its effectiveness. The whole idea of "integrating technology to school" or "changing schools, modes of learning and curricula" itself is an outdated, archaic question and endeavor and is irrelevant and useless to attempt to alleviate.
The issue is catalyzed and magnified even more in more diverse ethnic areas, and thus, exponentially hopeless...
how negative i was in this post lol
Scott Warrington 20+
The first thing then is to determine the role of education; in the past up until now I would say it was a means of passing on knowledge which previous generations felt was important. However I feel that in the future it would be wiser choice to pass on the ability to find (or even discover) and process knowledge than the knowledge itself. Some would say 'but they need a foundation', however I would ask them what good a solid foundation does when the landscape is constantly morphing and changing. As Conrad Wolfram said in a TED talk regarding this issue as it pertains to math, "Is the basics of driving a car learning how to service it?"
A very careful evaluation must be conducted regarding what information is and is not neccessary information for functioning in a world where vast quantities of knowledge are readily available everywhere if we are to see any significant improvement in education.
Ron Burnett 100+
Chris Chivers
Alexandra Samuel
Ron Burnett 100+
Garrett Hedman 10+
Why do educational institutions continue to rely on traditional models of learning?
- Before students can synthesize new ideas, they must have the foundation of information to build ideas with. They must have a core knowledge as E.D. Hirsch argues. Therefore, many of the current educational models teach facts very well. For example, Teach for America uses a simple model, "I do, we do, you do," that allows students to rapidly learn information. Once the information is learned, teacher's may probe at higher level thinking such as synthesizing and evaluating material (these are high depth of knowledge practices for more info look up Bloom's Taxonomy), but whether it be state tests, an intensive curriculum, or the subjectivity of evaluation, teacher's generally move on to the next unit.
Why have schedules, disciplines and departments remained the same as in the 20th Century?
Similar to the previous argument, schedules have remained the same because many institutions believe that students should learn a core knowledge. If a student is passionate about art and shows amazing talent in art, most schools still believe that student should learn math because it will provide a foundation for students to explore other fields. However, disciplines remaining the same is one area that I would like to see change. If math teaches students strategies to solve problems and recognize patters, then why don't we call the field Pattern Recgonition, a skill that can be developed and SHOULD be developed in the brain. Likewise if science teaches us to explore and find empirical answers to questions, then why don't we call the field Exploring, where we teach students how to use today's technology to explore and empirically answer questions.
I'm running out of words for the last two questions, but if interested I'll continue to post my opinions, I don't want to overshadow other great thoughts!
Ron Burnett 100+
Chris Chivers
Often the bigger issue is simply time. By incorporating technology too early, the time for experiential play can become more limited, restricting the early experience to delivery and reception.
Technology can certainly broaden experience, bringing ideas to life and bringing experiences from around the globe into the learning space. Awareness of the world an be heightened. Image and sound capture is important to support early language, ordering and organising ideas for later use. This is the use of technology as a tool supporting learning, the development of ideas.
Poorly used, it can replicate the use of worksheets,restrictive approaches which pay lip service to the incorporation of technology in learning. Most UK classes have an interactive whiteboard. It would be an interesting study to see how they are put to use to enagage children with learning, or if they are used as a teacher notepad and presentation of tasks.
Technology, well deployed can significantly enhance learning. I have on occasion been blown away by the use of technology by a student teacher, which has not just captured the children's attention, but engaged them in ways which have added real value to their life experiences, to me, a definition of learning.
froukje matthews
Instead, it's the University lecturers who are paid highest while those working with the babes are low in training, in education, are often itinerant workers....and then we expect children to like school and learning?????