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Critical Thought about Senseless Contradictions

Posts Tagged ‘Education’

10 Trends for Global Education in 2011

January 1st, 2011

: Image via Wikipedia

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly are still part of the incoming tide but Time will level the playing field once the dust of 20th Century marketing ploys settles and people begin to demand quality over the distracting dissatisfaction of empty, entertainment-filled promises. The masses are tired of being increasingly informed and entertained and decreasingly enabled and empowered for critical thought and deep learning.

1. Ubiquitous – The Internet has brought us a host of online education choices including everything from unscrupulous diploma mills to a myriad of so-called learning games as well as apps for nearly every subject, platform, and device. This trend will continue. The challenge to identify quality amidst the quantity will grow.

2. Social – Face it, we are social creatures and the only things we learn well in isolation are survival techniques (and even then, we wish we had some others to help us). The Internet’s social layer is solidly in place so expect to see education delivered more broadly on the social grid.

3. Mobile – The mobile generation will expect mobile access to all matters beyond mere communication and game-playing. Devices are personal links to best practices and apps will be developed to meet the ever-increasing demand.

4. Pushed – Traditional supply-side education will continue to lose ground to demand-side education where location-aware apps push just-in-time learning. Instructional design should take advantage of push technology.

5. Personalized – Learning will be personalized more and more in the way of both eportfolio content creation as well as learner-specific and contextually relevant assessment. Department of Education initiatives include plans to aggregate student achievement from cradle to grave and this data will empower apps to deliver personalized learning experiences.

6. Media rich – Whether we agree with it or not, future literacy will demand our reading of symbols that go beyond mere letters on a page. The digital landscape requires a broader skill set than previous generations learned.

7. Computer free – Web 1.0 was platform and software specific. Web 2.0 has been rather device centric. However, technology has a way of becoming invisible with wide-scale adoption. Expect the same in the education arena. The Internet of things will include more than kitchen appliances. The tools of the education trade will integrate smart technologies to seamlessly deliver interactive experiences previously relegated to traditional face-to-face settings.

8. Relevant – Thanks to gps chips, technology will afford customized delivery of learning opportunities contextually relevant to the learner.

9. Augmented – Emerging technological innovations are adding ways for learners to interact with subject matter in ways previously unavailable. Virtual field trips enable learners to transcend time and space barriers. Virtual technologies allow learner avatars to transcend identity barriers.

10. Layered – Just as the social layer has been added to the globally networked world, and just as a game layer is being constructed as I write this, watch for an education layer to be integrated where Like and Comment buttons may be accompanied by a Learn This button (Similar to Apture’s Learn More plugin but more developed).

These trends will continue while civilization continues to transition from the industrialized model of nation-state institutions to the globally networked collaborative model. Despite the fact that only half the world is Internet-worked at present, an ignorant populace can only be distracted by superficial entertainment and/or narrow cultural indoctrination for so long. Eventually, the thirst for fulfillment will drive the demand for genuine and deep learning on a global scale. Will greed give way to good?

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Posted in Education, Futurism, Internet, Mobile Learning, pedagogy, Social Media, Technology

Tags: Education educational technology learning Methods and Theories Personalized learning Technology Web 1.0

How to Gather Students Around the Glow of the Monitor for Subject-Centered Learning…

March 1st, 2010

: Image via Wikipedia

Yesterday I posted a link on my Posterous concerning the history of the printing press and how this revolutionary innovation affected and ultimately transformed society, culture, and the world.

Interestingly, hand written books were generally read aloud to groups. Recalling my time in Haiti and my research into the Haitian culture, I learned about “Krik-krak” the art of Haitian story-telling. Similarly, stories were recited around an evening fire when the work was done and the day was gone.

However, the printing press allowed the mass production of written material and corporate gathering for book-reading and story-telling gave way to independent study and ultimately to silent reading.

Aside: Silent reading was not readily accepted of course. People caught reading to themselves were considered demon-possessed by those observing them moving their lips without uttering a word.

Today, teachers as guides and facilitators are gathering their students around the fiery glow of the computer monitor to focus on units of learning centered around some theme or subject matter. Web 2.0 applications like VoiceThread allow students to read, hear, and interact by gathering around a subject matter rather than around the teacher as story-teller or disseminator of knowledge.

Yet the information is not necessarily student-centered either. Though it should be appropriate for the intended audience, the subject matter becomes the campfire around which the students gather to listen, observe, hypothesize, experiment, interact, collaborate, and report.

The usefulness of technology today is grounded it this ability to create rich, immersive environments for such gatherings. When this atmosphere is cultivated in the classroom, students and teachers are no longer in opposition to one another but are fellow-explorers navigating the new subject matter for a better understanding.

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Posted in Education, Mobile Learning, pedagogy, Social Media, Technology

Tags: Education Haiti Reading

Counterfeit Learning Watchwords…

February 18th, 2010

: Image by Sagolla via Flickr

Lesson plans are designed to meet learning objectives by providing some form of measurable performance that demonstrates an increase in capability. The language of genuine performance objectives for lesson planning is listed below. Please note, however, the counterfeit learning watchwords here:

Examples of Counterfeit Tasks*
————————————–
Appreciate, Be Aware, Believe, Comprehend, Enjoy, Hear, Know, Learn, Like, Practice, Rehearse, Remember, See, Think, Understand

Next time you listen to a politician speak, count the number of times they use the counterfeit words above rather than the authentic task-centered words below. Much of society is busy processing information rather than education. Information reduces risk whereas education increases capability.

Below are the lists of measurable vocabulary for proper performance objectives than can be assessed and evaluated to determine degree of actual learning taking place…

Examples of Analytical Tasks
————————————-
Analyze, Alter, Appraise, Arrange, Assemble, Categorize, Change, Chart, Classify, Collect, Combine, Compare, Compile, Compose, Construct, Contract, Contrast, Create, Defend, Design, Detect, Diagram, Differentiate, Discriminate, Evaluate, Examine, Expand, Experiment, Explain, Extend, Formulate, Gather, Generalize, Generate, Group, Include, Inventory, Itemize, Manage, Modify, Organize, Paraphrase, Plan, Predict, Prepare, Present, Propose, Question, Rearrange, Reconstruct, Regroup, Rename, Reorganize, Restructure, Rewrite, Save, Set up, Shorten, Simplify, Sort, Structure, Systematize, Test

Examples of Application Tasks
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Calculate, Choose, Classify, Complete, Compute, Demonstrate, Dramatize, Employ, Illustrate, Interpret, Modify, Operate, Prepare, Schedule, Sketch, Solve, Use

Examples of Calculation Tasks
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Add, Check, Compute, Count, Derive, Divide, Estimate, Extract, Extrapolate, Graph, Group, Integrate, Measure, Multiply, Plot, Prove, Reduce, Sequence, Solve, Square, Subtract, Tabulate, Tally, Verify

Examples of Comprehension Tasks
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Arrange, Categorize, Cite, Define, Describe, Differentiate, Discuss, Document, Duplicate, Explain, Express, Find, Generalize, Identify, Indicate, Interpret, Label, List, Locate, Map, Match, Memorize, Name, Organize, Outline, Paraphrase, Quote, Recognize, Record, Repeat, Report, Reproduce, Restate, Return, Review, Select, Sequence, Signify, Sort, State, Suggest, Support, Tabulate, Tell, Translate, Underline, Volunteer, Write

Examples of Evaluation Tasks
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Assess, Compare, Conclude, Critique, Defend, Estimate, Evaluate, Grade, Judge, Justify, Measure, Predict, Prescribe, Rank, Rate, Recommend, Score, Select, Support, Validate

Examples of Interpersonal Tasks
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Accept, Agree, Aid, Allow, Answer, Ask, Assist, Collaborate, Communicate, Compliment, Confront, Contribute, Cooperate, Disagree, Discuss, Explain, Excuse, Follow, Forgive, Greet, Guide, Help, Inform, Initiate, Interact, Invite, Join, Laugh, Lead, Lend, Manage, Meet, Offer, Permit, Praise, Question, React, Relate, Respond, Serve, Share, Smile, Supply, Talk, Thank, Volunteer, Vote

Examples of Language Tasks
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Abbreviate, Accent, Acknowledge, Alphabetize, Argue, Articulate, Capitalize, Compose, Define, Describe, Edit, Explain, Hyphenate, Indent, Outline, Present, Print, Pronounce, Punctuate, Read, Recite, Repeat, Respond, Speak, Spell, State, Summarize, Translate, Type, Verbalize, Write

Examples of Physical Tasks
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Assemble, Blend, Brush, Build, Calibrate, Carve, Color, Combine, Connect, Construct, Convert, Crush, Cut, Decrease, Demonstrate, Dissect, Draw, Drill, Finish, Fit, Fix, Fold, Form, Frame, Graft, Grind, Grow, Hammer, Handle, Heat, Illustrate, Increase, Insert, Lengthen, Limit, Make, Manipulate, Melt, Mend, Mix, Mold, Nail, Operate, Paint, Paste, Plant, Position, Pour, Prepare, Press, Reduce, Remove, Replace, Report, Reset, Roll, Rub, Sand, Saw, Set, Shake, Sharpen, Sketch, Smooth, Specify, Stamp, Stick, Stir, Straighten, Time, Trace, Transfer, Trim, Varnish, Weigh, Wipe, Wrap

*Source http://www.virtualtrainingpartners.com/visitvtpisland.html

How To Add Quizzes To Your Self-Hosted WordPress Blog (makeuseof.com)
Getting it Wrong: Surprising Tips on How to Learn (scientificamerican.com)
Higher Order Thinking Presentation Rev (slideshare.net)
Why You Won’t Learn to Speak Spanish (slideshare.net)
Computers Go to Semantics School (expertsystem.net)

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Posted in Critical Thinking, Education, pedagogy

Tags: Education Educators instructional design learning learning objectives lesson planning performance objectives

3 Obstacles of Opportunity for Education…

February 16th, 2010

: Image by NLanja via Flickr

Social media, mobile delivery, and money shortage (the 3M’s; media, mobile, and money) are three obstacles of opportunity before today’s educational institutions. But ideas are funny little things. They don’t work unless we do. And we need to focus on the long-term, sustainable solution, not the short-term fix.

Illustration…

Assume you’re an ER doc and a patient presents with severe bleeding from a gunshot. Of course you would do everything you can to mitigate the bleeding; slow it down; even stop it. But that’s only the temporary fix to the deeper problem – the bullet.

Problem…

Education is losing vitality in several arenas. Public education suffers from lower tax revenues in a crippled economy of devalued property. They also suffer from increased competition for enrollments via charter schools and private institutions as well as new online opportunities.

Higher Ed is losing ground as well via lower endowments, lower enrollments, and increased competition from for-profits, community colleges, and online approaches.

Most are trying to slow the speed of loss (a short-term solution) just like in our earlier ER doc example. But even if they succeed in short term fixes, the long-term problem remains: Education is changing around the globe. Here’s a review of the three obstacles, why they present a problem for educators, and one way they can be turned into opportunities for long term, sustainable solutions.

Obstacles…

According to many mainstream educators, Social Media is a distraction. Students check Facebook before they check email. Many dispense with email altogether unless absolutely necessary. And text messaging is harmful. An entire generation is ignorant of the skill of written communication. How are they supposed to complete book reports and turn in essays?

Mobile phones are problematic, so say many school officials, because they encourage cheating. They also distract both individuals and entire classes. And as mentioned above, they reinforce poor writing skills by encouraging 160 character text messages with emoticons rather than Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.

Money is in shorter supply and budgets are being cut across the board. How can we educate when we can’t afford the equipment, technology, textbooks, desks, electricity, staff, … and the list goes on. Therefore we inadvertently focus on fund raisers and government handouts to alleviate our pain.

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller

Opportunities…

Social media has changed our world into a relationship economy. Avoiding this revolutionary platform of interaction is like avoiding the subject of Economics when teaching History, Math, or the Social Sciences, etc. Social media is made up of user generated content within a defined space. Education must adapt to this new paradigm by offering students some customization and personalization options within the curriculum.

This does not mean students decide what to learn but it could mean they are given some choices regarding sequencing when such options are viable. How about personalizing learning spaces such as furniture arrangement, location for a class one day, or choosing a teammate for a project?

Mobile phones are more ubiquitous than computers. They are the single most useful device available to the masses (Africa now has the highest per capita concentration of them) since offering access to the Internet. Students find their cell phone to be the most relevant personal belonging (Identity) they own. Yet schools ban them unless they can exert some control over their use.

It’s vain to seek to destroy this perceived enemy of our traditional education process. Rather we best befriend this new platform and embrace its use because the new paradigm is about mobile delivery to a mobile generation (Remember! It’s a relationship economy).

Money woes could be reduced by embracing the new paradigm. E-textbooks are a fraction of the cost of traditional bound and printed matter. Aggregated relationship feeds can be monetized by the educational institutions themselves rather than waiting for Doritos and Budweiser to do it.

(I’m expecting some to raise a fuss about such a suggestion but perhaps they are not aware of the way our students are monetized already within the obese educational institution).

Summary…

What society values, it should propagate through education so the next generation may carry the torch onward. We used to value colonization and we indoctrinated others accordingly. Then we valued industrialization and we used behaviorism to educate the masses. When we entered the management revolution of the mid 20th century, we changed our tactics to cognitive learning approaches.

Today we are facing a new paradigm that requires constructivist and connectivist learning strategies to educate a sustainable society that is equipped to emerge wisely from our impending collision with a future where the human and the machine are merged in a bio- and nano-tech world.

The future will be social and mobile. If the institution of education wishes to survive economically, it must adopt and adapt the new platform of interaction.

Merit Pay For Teachers – Pros & Cons (slideshare.net)
3 Ways Educators Are Embracing Social Technology (mashable.com)
Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan and the GSMA Announce ’1GOAL: Education for All’ Mobile Campaign at the Mobile World Congress (eon.businesswire.com)
How To Use Twitter As An Education Tool (tlmarketing.net)
At Bronx Vocational School, Concern Over Plan for Charter (nytimes.com)
Obama to seek up to $4B in new education spending (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
Your Kids & the Cell Phone Era (blisstree.com)
Changes in Media Consumption: TV Rises in Popularity, Unlike NewsPapers, While Mobile Devices Also Move Up (socialmediatoday.com)

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Posted in Critical Thinking, Education, Futurism, Government, Internet, Mobile Learning, pedagogy, Social Media, Sustainability, Technology

Tags: Charter school Communication Community college Education Facebook Mobile phone Public education Text messaging

Land Ho! … Arriving on the other side of Web 2.0

February 13th, 2010

Not everyone agrees with Thomas Friedman‘s descriptions of our networked world in his best seller, The World is Flat. However, most would agree that human-kind is indeed on a journey from our agrarian past, through our industrial and post-industrial 20th century, into our present 21st century techno-savvy culture.

And many – at least those who have studied the history of education – agree we have traveled a long way from our behaviorist past (focusing on reward and punishment), through the cognitive 20th century (brain centered learning), to our constructivist present (knowledge is constructed both within and without; both personally and socially).

The crystal balls of those in the know seem to be affirming the same conclusion: We are at a critical nexus with regard to technology innovation in just about every possible arena of social interaction whether medical, governmental, educational, business or military as depicted below…

Medicine … Nano- and Bio-tech advances
Education … Online and Mobile delivery platform migration
Government … OpenGov2.0
Business … Relationship economy driven by social media platforms
Military … Drone technogies

Just how far have we come? We cannot measure how far we’ve come unless we know how far we can go. Futurists (wfs.org) use various trend detecting techniques to peer into the future. Based on current research, where we are today is in keeping with Thomas Friedman’s claim that we are at the end of the beginning. In other words, where we are today with our emerging tech-culture and nearly five decades of Internet under our belt, is only at the end of the first phase of the tech revolution. When it comes to merging the electro-chemical human with electro-mechanical technology, we are just getting started.

It is precisely this initial transitory phase that has kept us disoriented; in the beginning due to future-shock (fear and resistance) and now due to future-disconnect (denial and reckless abandon). How will we enter this next phase of innovation that will lead us beyond the so-called Web 2.0 with its community-encouraging connectedness, into an age where the real is augmented (AR), intelligence is supplemented (AI), and human needs are predictably anticipated rather than simply computed?

The human culture vessel has been sailing for some decades across this ocean of change from industrial to technological. There have been and still are many in the crows nest with an eye on the horizon. The good news is, land is in sight. However there remains the unnerving prospect of uncertainty regarding the promise and/or peril that awaits. And we can’t control all of the events with which we will collide. Therefore, we owe it to ourselves to arm our most powerful weapon over which we do have control; the mind. A mind trained to think critically is a formidable opponent.

The explorers of centuries past faced the same plight that stares us down today. Uncertainty was the common lot, then as now. To educate and equip the next generation to face their unknown future is our prime directive. But the education I’m speaking of goes beyond being social-media adept or rich in cultural experiences. It requires more than tolerance and understanding. These qualities would be sufficient if we only faced increasing interactivity among the human race. But the human is merging with its technology.

Just as the industrial era produced machines to mimic and exceed human physical power, so tech advances will mimic and exceed human cognitive power. How will we engage these innovations for the common good? How will we increase human capability (education) and skill (training) within the new paradigm?

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Posted in Critical Thinking, Education, Futurism, Government, Internet, Social Media, Sustainability, Technology

Tags: Artificial intelligence Education future Technology Thomas Friedman

Fallacy of Composition: A Senseless Contradiction…

February 9th, 2010

I wrote about the Land Conservation movement a few years back. In light of education reform efforts it’s worth revisiting the senseless contradictions inherent in many debates of this type.

The Land as Place…

The old paradigm has caused a polarity between conservation and development. Therefore developers ‘greenwash’ their plans to appease to conservationists. This becomes a political game.

So we educate learners to become one or the other; a developer or a conservationist. We thereby strengthen the polarization and it becomes a senseless contradiction that has no resolution in and of itself.

Like the cruise control directions to “set your speed a little slower than the person in front of you;” if everyone did this, we would slow all traffic to 35 mph as each repeatedly adjusts their speed downward in reaction to the continually slowing traffic before them. Why 35 mph? Because that is the minimum threshold for operating cruise control. Thus, the dumbing down of the majority, the mediocre mainstream, the leveling of minds to the least common denominator.

What we want adds up to what we don’t want. This is known as the fallacy of composition. Oscar Wilde wrote, » More: Fallacy of Composition: A Senseless Contradiction…

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Posted in Conservationism, Critical Thinking, Education, Environment, environmentalism, Futurism, Government, pedagogy, Population Growth, Simple Living, Sustainability

Tags: Conservation movement Economic growth Education Education reform Environment

Three Building Blocks for a Firm Foundation in Education…

February 9th, 2010

: Image via Wikipedia

What are the building blocks of a healthy body? What ingredients are required to ensure the building blocks are present and integrated correctly to maximize performance? Top athletes know how to fine tune their bodies for maximum output. They recognize the building blocks needed to assure the necessary ingredients are provided for optimum balance.

The three building blocks on which athletes train are: » More: Three Building Blocks for a Firm Foundation in Education…

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Posted in Critical Thinking, Education

Tags: Education Education reform Educators professional development

Democracy in the Educational Institution in 1945 … and today!

February 6th, 2010

: Image via Wikipedia

I want to extrapolate on last year’s post about Democracy in the Classroom and apply the same principles to the Administration – Teacher/Faculty relationship in today’s educational institution.

The post then and now is based on an intriguing YouTube video from 1945 which I’ve embedded below for convenience. » More: Democracy in the Educational Institution in 1945 … and today!

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Posted in Critical Thinking, Education, Futurism, Government, Sustainability

Tags: Add new tag Aristotle Democracy Education Faculty Freedom of speech James Madison Middle class

Engagement does NOT equal Learning…

February 3rd, 2010

: Image by woodleywonderworks via Flickr

Just because students may appear “engaged” does not mean genuine learning is taking place. Gaining attention and building capacity for understanding and capability for application, are not the same process.

Certainly it helps in the classroom when students are engaged. However, engagement alone may merely inform. Genuine learning occurs when skill sets and/or real capability is enhanced.

This is why so many educational games are just that; games. They engage and entertain but do they “teach?” Remembering facts is helpful but understanding how to apply facts via extrapolation, is the higher order thinking goal.

Knowing history and understanding history are as different as knowing what certain foods taste like versus understanding how to prepare them and in fact, possessing the skill to do so.

Media fights for attention. Engagement is the goal from every direction. But there is a difference between informing and educating. Informing is a tool that facilitates the reduction of uncertainty. Education increases capability. The value-added increase of capability is achieved by blending practice with feedback that is tied to targeted outcomes.

Too much education is merely informational albeit engaging. Many in education contend rightly that technology as a tool is more engaging than traditional pedagogical practices. However, technology must be used to teach by integrating curriculum, incorporating feedback loops, and result in evaluative outcomes already agreed upon.

The bottom line is, it’s easy to engage. The challenge is to teach. Skilled educators know not only how to engage, but how to “educe” real learning from their students.

Faculty that are equipped with the pedagogical skills will then understand how to apply emerging technologies in a way that supports and streamlines old practices. Educational technologists are needed as liaisons on campuses in order to facilitate this integration.

Facilitation or Teaching which works best (cs.cityu.edu)

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Posted in Critical Thinking, Education, Internet, pedagogy, Technology

Tags: Add new tag Capacity building Curriculum Education learning Learning Theories Methods and Theories pedagogy Technology

Redefining-the-wireless-experience (video) … Teachers prepare!

January 25th, 2010

The ubiquitous access to real-time data streaming will augment every facet of our daily lives from travel to shopping, from education to communication. Get ready. We’re on a collision course.