Bringing schools into the 21st Century: Necessity or Hype?
I would like to respond to the Time article by Wallis and Steptoe (2006). The article discuss’s the changing nature of the world around us, and suggest inroads for technology to assist education. The authors give the analogy of someone from the late 1800′s waking up today and recognising nothing in the world except the classroom, it has not changed while the world around it has. I agree that everything in the world has changed/is changing or evolving, but i feel that does not necesarily mean that teaching has to dramatically change. Obviously it has been tweaked, streamlined , modernised and simplified, but the author suggests that education has been left in the past by the moving world and i dont feel this is completely true nor fair. Good teaching is good teaching; wherever and whenever you are. Killen(2003) suggests that high quality teaching, a concept as young teachers we should all be aiming for, is achieved by a range of strategies : “no single teaching strategy is effective all the time, for all learners”. This certainly provides the opportunity to integrate ICT but this also would be a relevent comment regardless of the century we live in.
The author also feels the need for ICT in reference to out of date text books being used by students and staff alike. This is a valid point, however the rate of change ‘online’ as far as what is outdated and who’s information is legitimate and a trusted source is not clear. The internet is not policed for authenticity nor credibility so a student reseacrhing information on popular sites such as wikipedia could be sourcing information that is not accurate, therefore misleading.
I do share one major point of view with the author, it is in regards to the idea of students being global citizens, their leaning should reflect world standards so as not to be left behind or disadvantaged. ICT, internet and videoconferencing allows students from different corners of the world to interact and learn off each other, together something that our 1800′s friend would not be able to comprehend.
Killen, R. 2007. Effective teaching strategies: lessons from research and practice. Fourth edition. Social Science Press, Melbourne, Australia.
