There are issues with today’s education system. The generation of children and young adults who are currently in school are the same generation who rely on their cellphones and social networking sites for communication. Technology has altered drastically over time and continues to change so it doesn’t make sense that other important aspects of our day-to-day lives aren’t following this trend.
The traditional classroom setting is not affective for reaching out to all students. In his lecture, “From Knowledge to Knowledge-able,” Michael Wesch acknowledges that his students are neither incapable nor unwilling to learn, they simply just do not enjoy their classes. This is not the fault of the teacher but instead a problem created by the education system’s inability to adapt to meet the demands of the 21st century. If educators used new methods in order to reach out to their students it is likely they will get different results.
In his lecture, “No Digital Facelifts: Thinking the Unthinkable About Open Educational Experiences“ and essay, “A Personal Cyberinfrastructure,” Gardner Campbell acknowledges the issues present in the classroom and argues doing away with outdated technology will remedy the problem. I feel as though Campbell’s proposal is unrealistic and too far to the other extreme to be effective; the current classroom structure is too much of a contrast to an environment that is entirely web-based. Although it may seem appropriate considering our technological dependance, I don’t think the world is ready for such a change. To my understanding, the cyberinfrastructure Campbell refers to in his essay can be compared to the various identities we have established for this course. Although having a course entirely online works in this situation I don’t think this method would work with every course.
Add a comment