I found the video fascinating and could recognize “Learning by doing and learning about practical everyday problems. “ (Mitchel, 2007) I hear this all the time in education except now the buzz words are real-world problems, and learning through project based learning or problem-solving. I enjoyed watching the young students use electronics such as a toaster to prepare meals. I can’t imagine that happening in a 1st-grade classroom in recent times with the concern of injury and liability. The video conclusion also felt as if it could have been included with any superintendent’s convocation speech. When explaining how quickly technology is changing and we are preparing our students for jobs that don’t exist yet. There are many obstacles when trying to implement anything new in education. One of the main obstacles is money. I have found that many schools are willing to put money into purchasing the technology but then aren’t willing to put money into the most important part, which is training. I have seen this first hand and I think it’s a tremendous detriment to provide teachers resources but not back up new technology without time to invest or train. I think it would be a great benefit for districts to add more faculty that only help teachers with technology. This would not be to fix technology when it breaks but to actually assist teachers with apps, websites, or creating a blended learning environment. Additionally, people that are involved with making money decisions are often focused on how any changes will affect standardized test results.
There is a wide range of how school districts function as a whole dependent on the amount of money flowing in and out of the district. I have worked at a school that was so consumed with students needing to pass the standardized tests because they did not meet state requirements the year before, all resources and energy were spent on tutoring, and programs to assist curriculum. The district I work at now is successful with students passing standardized test and resources are spent on the newest and best technology, but there is so little follow-up. So good things are happening, but there isn’t enough change. Part of the reason is that some people are still stuck in thinking if something is not broke, why fix it. It takes tremendous effort even to implement small changes, because of all the people involved in making these changes. Even though education is changing at a small pace, I do see some great things happening and will happen in the future. References: Mitchel, D. (2007, July 31). youtube.com. Retrieved from Progressive Education in the 1940s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opXKmwg8VQM&feature=youtu.be
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AuthorBridget Gallagher Archives
June 2018
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