BP2_20091004_ Anti-Teaching

Blog Post #2 Week 1 Anti-Teaching

Today?s educational systems are not necessarily accommodating for the students of today. In terms of the Multiple Intelligences theories of Gardner, there is not enough open ended learning for students. Students come in so many different shapes and sizes, and bring along with them the many different types of learning in which they learn best.
In order to help the students of today and tomorrow, an approach that would allow students to explore, process, and implement information obtained would be more beneficial to much of their learning. I see a strong lean towards the histories, maths, and sciences, and languages in these concepts. Although offering available resources, subjects that involve a physical component such as a choir, band, or physical education would have more difficulty in totally implementing a technological curriculum. The use of technology in attaining some base knowledge skills would prove helpful, but not be able to interject the human factor needed in these areas. Incorporation of technology with learning environments could assist many brain-based learning functions.
Are virtual learning environments with course management systems the answer? The answer? To all of education?s problems? No I don?t think they are ?the answer?. I think they can be used as a part of the puzzle completion, but not totally relied on as the answer to educating every child in the school system. Allowing access to tools of Web 2.0 can only benefit and enlighten the child of today to an even greater degree. Having the resources for exploration at a child?s finger tip, can only open endless doors of knowledge.
Is it enough? Can technology be the answer to reaching every student? No, I don?t believe it is the answer. I believe it can open avenues of question and inquiry for a student, but not be the total answer to their success. As stated in the Anti-teaching article, we are only human, and learning is the hallmark of humanity. Can technology help? Yes, through the use of blogging, students open themselves and the world up to a multitude of new ideas, thoughts, and philosophies. They can interact with other humans, creating a family or group, and openly explore new avenues of interest or commonalities. Students have the freedom to question. They can explore for information, answer a question, and create new questions, finding the answer to them, exploring over and over and discovering new ideas and solutions as questions appear. In the Anti-teaching article the statement reads, the only answer to a good question is another question.
Proper encouragement from a teacher (who becomes more of mediator) allows students opportunities to collect information, draw connections, acquire information, disseminate it, and collaborate on the use of the information. The teacher helps to direct the entire spectacle of exploration of the student?s. It is the job of the teacher to provide an environment conducive to the learning, allowing them to manage as opposed to conveying information (Portman/Weingartner).
I would like to see schools start out by incorporating a learning strategy that is bought into by all of the participants (district, teachers, parents, students). All teachers would work off a single format such as google docs with all of its vast availability. Teachers would encourage student writing through the use of a unified blogging site that would allow student interaction and collaborations. Students and staff would have accessibility to technological tools that would allow students to present visual documentation of classroom projects.