Classroom Tech

1. How have the purposes of schooling shifted and expanded from the 20th century to the 21st century?

4. How might you apply your knowledge to lesson design for a 21st century classroom teaching and learning environment?

I read and watched a lot of the links on this site. I saw a lot of cool stuff and a lot of pie in the sky ideal for literacy in the 21st century. The purposes of schooling in the 21st century may have changed, but the structure of it and reality of it has not. First, the school day is not long enough and the school schedule is not conducive to 21st century learning. School days are still built on farming and industrial societies. The emphasis on testing students for knowledge also seems out of whack for what the workplace wants — innovation.

 The second part that makes 21st century learning hard, if not impossible is the standards movement. Standards are good to a point; it has focused on disadvantaged learners.  But at the same time, it is slowing everyone down. Schools cannot prepare students for the 21st century workplace if they are focused on tests. The 21st century workplace needs innovation, according to Tony Wagner who interviewed a lot of business leaders in his article, “Rigor Redefined: The Seven Survival Skills for Careers, College, and Citizenship.” The business leaders stated they need workers who are innovative and brave. They need people willing to take a risk and make a mistake for the sake of innovation. Current education policy is not conducive to that type of learning. So until the federal government comes around to loosing the testing requirements.

On a side note, Wagner has better stick to his day job. His article, centered around a book he is writing, has been written already. New York times columnist Thomas Friedman already tackled this issue and quite well in his book “The World is Flat.”  If you have not read it, I suggest it.

 Now, how would I implement technology in my high school English classroom. As much as possible I would turn it into “The Future is Now,” the Web seminar from Rutgers University’s English Department. The presentation is fabulous and right on. It details how society has moved beyond the printing press to the network world, “the most significant change in human expression in human history.” The presentation on Web 2.0 explains how the Humanities is wrongly focused on criticism and not multi-media presentation. Students need to compose mesh words and images to tell stories and make connections to their audiences in the greater outside world. This needs to be the future of English education.