If someone asked me what do you think would happen if children living in povern stricken India, without any computer skills, suddenly gained access to a computer with high speed Internet? I probably say sounds like the beginnings of outsourcing. No, all kidding aside I would have thought the children wouldn't know what to do with it because of there lack of experience in using it.
Boy, did Sugata Mitra prove me wrong.
In his series of educational experiments giving kids access to the Internet through public kiosk in remote areas of India was an eye opener. The " Hole In The Wall" project, has installed computers with Internet connection in remote locations around India for local children to discover it's wonders. He found that the children began to teach themselves math skills, browsing, and amazingly enough English through social networking.
As I think about the experiment more and more I can't say I'm surprised about the children's reaction to the kiosk.The learning style of young children is curious by nature, having an instinct to make sense of the world around them. They have a strong sense of need to examine and explore. As children we are constantly touch and watching things that interest us. In a classroom situation children are often passive learners where they hear constant lectures, but given a computer the children become more active learners because of their curiosity
What was unexpected and so amazing was the ability of these children to learn on their own from a machine they had never used or likely even seen, plus the problem of the language barrier in which they overcame. There were no teachers involved and no curriculum to follow. Their curiosity and ambition to learn, was the driving force to find out what this kiosk could do. What was also incredible to see was the collaboration between children at the kiosk. Helping each other as they were learning. This not only speaks volumes of children’s ability to learn, but also of the power of social networks in learning. These social networks drove the yearning to learn more from these kiosks without fear of being wrong. The social setting allows for a pressure free environment where students can make mistakes freely without the pressures of the standard classroom. For me Mitra experiment shows the power technology and social/collaborative learning.
As I think about my own school as compared to these Kiosks, I feel the need to empower these students more. If students in remote India learn English and math skills off a kiosk out in public, what could my students do if they had a laptop in front of them. The time has changed for the teachers in my school to be lecturers to students who have 5 minute attention spans.We need to act more like facilitators and let students explored structured Internet lessons that allow them to learn from one another and at there own pace.
I hold steadfast to the belief that the more technology you introduce to the students, the more they are going to be actively engaged in what you are teaching. Students not only observe the world but also want to operate it, they are constantly trying to explore and process the world around them. On their own or with their friends they have a curiosity that makes them want to understand how everything works.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thinking of the Future Part 1
Education is more important today than ever for the children who are competing against children around the world for and jobs. In order for the United States to hold a high standing, we need to change things internally in the classroom. When we remain focused on intelligence and testing, we miss out on an important truism: The most intelligent people aren’t the ones who score advanced proficient on their NJASK test. Curiosity and creativity are the new intelligences that will promote a student to a better job in the future; these two traits in the classroom are better indicators of students' willingness to transfer knowledge into long-term interests and careers. We need to ask whether the goals of teaching children is for them to do well on tests or find creative ways to problem solve societies most challenges and complex problems. If it is the latter, the obsession with intelligence and standardized tests needs to be re-considered and curiosity and creativity needs to be brought to the forefront in the classroom.
Another theme that needs to be addressed is leadership in our schools. I don’t feel that the leadership we have today in education is going to help the students of tomorrow. In looking at the global trends that we see today in society and all the technological advances that are changing right before our eyes and I can’t help but feel discouraged. From looking at research that continues to blow my mind I don’t know how we are going to educate students for tomorrow when we are now educating them for a job in the 1960’s. I feel we need a radical change in leadership is needed. Someone up in the hire ranks needs to heed the warning that even Bill Gates is saying for some time, “Our Schools are becoming obsolete”.
Finally the idea of school itself may need a change. Students are learning more and more through the internet and gaming. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/1879019.stm. "Adventure, quest and simulation type games have a lot of benefit - they're quite complex and create a context in which children can develop important skills," said Professor McFarlane. I strongly feel that this is an avenue in which the education needs to explore. More and more students are connected worldwide with each other. To connect these pools of knowledge in the classroom through gaming and the internet could only help students realize the vastness and opportunity that awaits them when they graduate.
“When the rate of change outside an organization is greater than the rate of change inside an organization, the end is in sight”-Jack Welch
This quote rings true for me as I think about public education in exponential times that we face.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
It's a Flat World, After All
This is not a test.
It’s an emergency! The rise of Flatism in our world today has not only leveled the playing field for competing countries against the U.S. in the Global market, it has put us at a disadvantage and we have no one to blame but ourselves . With the dot-com boom in the 1990’s Americans Companies footed the bill for other countries to gain access to the information through the construction of the internet. We threw billions at designing fiber optic cables that run across the world right to our competitor’s front door. They now use that access to connect all the knowledge pools in the world without any of massive costs to get there. These countries were able to leapfrog over the industry age and straight into the technology age. We are no longer the leaders of the Globalization age. We are the ones falling behind.
With the combination of technology, a booming population and rich educational heritage countries like India and China, not only now have the ability to compete in the Global market but now are taking it over. The mindset of these countries to “never rest” and our false sense of entitlement America is falling behind in innovations.
The big question is left for Americans to answer. In the International Competition of Globalization how are Americans going to catch up?
“It’s a Flat World After All,” by Thomas Friedman, is a call to arms article that has fascinating points to it. One point that I find most intriguing is the part of the article where Bill Gates warned the governor’s conference in telling them that American High schools are “obsolete”. When he compares our fourth graders to the rest of the world’s we are on top, but we are in the middle of the pack when it comes to our eighth graders and by 12th grade we are scoring near the bottom. How can that be? The United States is at the top of the list when it comes to spending money for its students. (http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2008/09/does-spending-more-on-education-improve-academic-achievement) So what is causing the gap between our students and the rest of the world? Obliviously, throwing money at the situation is not the problem or the solution. We need to find a way to change this continuing downward spiral.
This article raises some concerns and questions. One question is how do we motive American students to become engineers in the Innovative Era? With India graduating a million more students than the US and China graduating six times as many engineers, one wonders if we will ever be able to catch up. When I asked students in my district if any wanted to become engineers most didn’t even know what an engineer does. Scary! Another question is, what are we doing to help teachers between 4th and 12th grade close the gap between the US and competing nations in math and sciences? What are other countries doing in the classroom that we are not? The final question and concern is how did the US Government allow so many companies to outsource to other countries when it has resulted in them taking jobs and technology away from its citizens? With jobs at a premium in our country today what are we doing to fix it?
Don’t hit the Panic button yet!
Recommendations: As Friedman states technology, population, and a “never rest” mentality are widening the gap between the US and these countries. However, he doesn’t address the positives of technology reaching these countries. Yes, we may be falling behind but it has also given us the ability to communicate and exchange information across distances and has enabled more individuals to participate in the human growth of knowledge regardless of their location. People can now share information instantaneously when it took much longer before. It has made the world smaller and more accessible for so many individuals. Students can now take virtual tours of places in other countries that we only were able to see as a 2D picture in a book. As communication barriers have now broken through the World Wide Web, we now have the ability not only to share medical breakthroughs, but to have friendships as well. As the Internet age is in its infancy stage there will be competition to see what countries will be at the top but the winner in the end will be the human race for all the advancements we will achieve because of the internet.
It’s an emergency! The rise of Flatism in our world today has not only leveled the playing field for competing countries against the U.S. in the Global market, it has put us at a disadvantage and we have no one to blame but ourselves . With the dot-com boom in the 1990’s Americans Companies footed the bill for other countries to gain access to the information through the construction of the internet. We threw billions at designing fiber optic cables that run across the world right to our competitor’s front door. They now use that access to connect all the knowledge pools in the world without any of massive costs to get there. These countries were able to leapfrog over the industry age and straight into the technology age. We are no longer the leaders of the Globalization age. We are the ones falling behind.
With the combination of technology, a booming population and rich educational heritage countries like India and China, not only now have the ability to compete in the Global market but now are taking it over. The mindset of these countries to “never rest” and our false sense of entitlement America is falling behind in innovations.
The big question is left for Americans to answer. In the International Competition of Globalization how are Americans going to catch up?
“It’s a Flat World After All,” by Thomas Friedman, is a call to arms article that has fascinating points to it. One point that I find most intriguing is the part of the article where Bill Gates warned the governor’s conference in telling them that American High schools are “obsolete”. When he compares our fourth graders to the rest of the world’s we are on top, but we are in the middle of the pack when it comes to our eighth graders and by 12th grade we are scoring near the bottom. How can that be? The United States is at the top of the list when it comes to spending money for its students. (http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2008/09/does-spending-more-on-education-improve-academic-achievement) So what is causing the gap between our students and the rest of the world? Obliviously, throwing money at the situation is not the problem or the solution. We need to find a way to change this continuing downward spiral.
This article raises some concerns and questions. One question is how do we motive American students to become engineers in the Innovative Era? With India graduating a million more students than the US and China graduating six times as many engineers, one wonders if we will ever be able to catch up. When I asked students in my district if any wanted to become engineers most didn’t even know what an engineer does. Scary! Another question is, what are we doing to help teachers between 4th and 12th grade close the gap between the US and competing nations in math and sciences? What are other countries doing in the classroom that we are not? The final question and concern is how did the US Government allow so many companies to outsource to other countries when it has resulted in them taking jobs and technology away from its citizens? With jobs at a premium in our country today what are we doing to fix it?
Don’t hit the Panic button yet!
Recommendations: As Friedman states technology, population, and a “never rest” mentality are widening the gap between the US and these countries. However, he doesn’t address the positives of technology reaching these countries. Yes, we may be falling behind but it has also given us the ability to communicate and exchange information across distances and has enabled more individuals to participate in the human growth of knowledge regardless of their location. People can now share information instantaneously when it took much longer before. It has made the world smaller and more accessible for so many individuals. Students can now take virtual tours of places in other countries that we only were able to see as a 2D picture in a book. As communication barriers have now broken through the World Wide Web, we now have the ability not only to share medical breakthroughs, but to have friendships as well. As the Internet age is in its infancy stage there will be competition to see what countries will be at the top but the winner in the end will be the human race for all the advancements we will achieve because of the internet.
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