Why do 21st Century Educational Reformers look to Business Leaders for answers?

taken from Alan Shoho

Why do so many 21^st century educational reformers look to business people or the business sector for answers to educational issues? What expertise or experience do business people have in creating effective schools? And where is the EVIDENCE to suggest that they have any proven ideas beyond political rhetoric? Would the business sector ever approach educators to address ethical lapses in judgment as demonstrated by many examples from the past decade with BP, Enron, WorldCom, financial meltdown, mortgage crisis, etc.? Can you imagine a business asking clients how to run their business? Or what about lawyers asking people without law degrees for legal advice. As you can see, I have pondered many questions since UCEA in New Orleans.

Over the past few weeks and months I’ve attended a number of meetings and luncheons about how to improve education with Chamber of Commerce types and legislative staffers. As I walk away from each of these meetings, I keep wondering where did we (as educators) lose our credibility and how can we regain it. Based on my experience, very few policymakers and influential voices are looking to educators for answers. Unfortunately, I do not have many answers to offer, but there are a lot of educational scholars who are smarter than me and maybe our collective thinking can re-create an environment where our voice is heard and sought out.

While many business affiliated groups are pushing for educational reforms like charter schools, vouchers, creating pathways for alternative certification, etc., where’s the evidence that any of these methods work? During President George W. Bush’s two term presidency, he advocated for experimental, randomized, control studies to be the gold standard to deem whether an innovation was worthy or not. As far as I know, very few, if any of these ideas being pushed by business-affiliated groups have any proven track record.

The challenge ahead of the field is to not only point out and ask questions like above, but also to create a new environment in the 21^st Century where we capture the public’s trust and confidence in preparing school leaders and reforming education for the betterment of all children.

What does 1:1 Mean to You?

What does 1:1 Mean to You?

Recently, we began discussing (in our district) the possibility of going to a 1:1 program. The discussion has evolved from conversations, tech sessions, and our observations of what other schools are doing. For the past several years, I have watched as a neighboring district implemented a 1:1 program for their 4th grade students via MLDs (aka Mobile Learning Devices) and soon after, our district did the same. Both districts have expanded their program and now, we are considering how the evolution of this technology will impact our current 5th graders (who all have a device) if we don't change how we operate in the high school classroom.

So this is where we are... how do we prepare to teach a different type of student? The 'Networked Student' (see video below)? We have been saying for years that students' needs are different today than they were 5 or 10 years ago. So how do (or should) we as educators adjust and change to meet the needs of these 21st Century students?

Going 1:1 (putting a device in the hands of all students) is not the solution. This new tool can certainly be used in the process, almost as a vehicle for getting us to a 21st Century classroom. But it is in no means the end-all, be-all. 21st Century classrooms must teach students how to collaborate, how to innovate, how to communicate (digitally and otherwise), how to investigate, how to research, how to use every tool at their disposal in order to problem solve.

In a discussion with a group of teachers recently, the issue came up as to whether or not we were degrading the basic skills by using too much technology. Making students memorize facts that they can Google isn't educating them. Teaching students how to find information and then evaluate, synthesize, and analyze that information in order to solve a problem or create a solution is educating them.

In a recent conversation with my good friend and teacher @SNewco, we were discussing a math problem he had given his students. He had expected them to have to use paper and pencil to come up with the answer. One student, however, used Google and some other intuitive internet research on his MLD to arrive at the correct answer. While stunned,@SNewco couldn't have been happier with his student's ability to find the correct answer. This is 21st Century Learning! We have to change how we question and teach our students, knowing full well that they have the ability to 'Google' the answer!

To me, going 1:1 next school year is no different than it probably was to give every student a book 100 years ago. Sure its the next big thing, but it is becoming a standard item. I would be willing to predict that within 5 years, the word 1:1 will be nearly obsolete. A learning device (i.e. smart phone, iPad, netbook, ipod, etc.) will be the standard, not the anomaly. In reality, long before my career is over, a student device with be as standard as a 3-ring binder or a calculator is today.

So the question isn't should we or shouldn't we go 1:1... the real question iswill we be ready when the students are?

Student Response to Education

Interesting take on our education model.

Why Don't You Ask Us?

In my 10 or so years in the Learnersville education system, I have been asked many questions.

“What's two plus two?”

“What happened in the story?”

“Why can't you kids, behave?!”

However, I have not been asked the one magical question that is so powerful, if uttered, unicorns will dance around the room pooping rainbows and leprechauns will chase them looking for their gold. The room would echo with amazement. And the kids would be blinded by the sheer force of the one and only epic question.

What is that question you ask? Some of you may assume that the question is, “What do you want to learn?” HA!! Wrong! No, I'm completely aware that teachers by law are required to teach certain things. And you thought you had me figured out. :)

The question is, “How do you want to learn?” Yes, the epic fantastic amazing question that just might save the world. And I have never been asked it! I am under the impression that none of my teachers actually care about how I want to learn, or how the child next to me wants to learn. I'm sure their reason is that: they know best. Whatever, you don't know how I learn best. YOU'VE NEVER ASKED!

I sit at a desk seven hours a day just waiting for that one question to be spoken, but I know now that I will most likely never be asked it. I guess I have to demand it. So here it goes:

ASK ME HOW I WANT TO LEARN!!!!!!!!

Educational Technology Article

If we were really serious about educational technology, we would… [here are 10 to get you started]

• show students how to edit their privacy settings and use groups in Facebook instead of banning online social networks because they’re ‘dangerous’ and/or ‘frivolous’;
• teach students to understand and contribute to the online information commons rather than ‘just saying no’ to Wikipedia;
• put a robust digital learning device into every student’s hands (or let them bring and use their own) instead of pretending that we live in a pencil, notebook paper, and ring binder world;
• photo © 2006 Michael Surran | more info(via: Wylio)integrate digital learning and teaching tools into subject-specific preservice methods courses rather than marginalizing instructional technology as a separate course;
• understand the true risk of students encountering online predators and make policy accordingly instead of succumbing to scare tactics by the media, politicians, law enforcement, computer security vendors, and others;
• find out the exact percentage of our schools’ families that don’t have broadband Internet access at home rather than treating the amorphous ‘digital divide’ as a reason not to assign any homework that involves use of the Internet;
• treat seriously and own personally the task of becoming proficient with the digital tools that are transforming everything instead of nonchalantly chuckling about how little we as educators know about computers;
• recognize the power and potential (and limitations) of online learning rather than blithely assuming that it can’t be as good as face-to-face instruction;
• tap into and utilize the technological interest and knowledge of students instead of pretending that they have nothing to contribute;
• better educate and train school administrators rather than continuing to turn out new leaders that know virtually nothing about creating, facilitating, and/or sustaining 21st century learning environments;
• and so on…

What else could we add to the list?