You decide.
We know the world is changing and that our K-12 public education system isn’t keeping up.
We are delivering content in a 20th century model. To keep up with a changing world, how do we create the learning tools to reframe, analyze, and apply that content?
A changing world also requires new thinking about “Stage not Age.” Today students advance from one topic to the next according to the teacher’s lesson plan, whether or not the student has mastered the material. Yet, students of wide-ranging abilities sit side-by-side in one classroom. Educators need to meet them where they are. And students can help their peers advance as well.
So what would this ideal learning system look like? Here are a few fundamental elements most would agree upon:
- Student-centered and personalized
- Experiential
- Real opportunities to apply knowledge
- Accessible 24/7
Kids are keyboarding at 60 wpm in the second grade! They are ready for this.
To keep up, students of today must be engaged. Engaged with technology, collaboration, and inquiry-based learning environments.
Teachers must be willing and able to use technology’s power to assist them in transforming knowledge and skills into products, solutions, and new information. And they must have the school system and structure to support engaging in, and learning through, technology.
Speaking of change, revenue from the IPhone and IPad now accounts for 72% of Apple’s total revenue—and neither item existed five years ago.
Check out Tuesday’s blogpost for a successful example of this learning environment in a second-year charter public school in Minneapolis.
