Rethinking Education Chapter 5 Reflection

Chapter 5 revolved around how technology is assisting the change of the educational system.  I found it interesting that the history of American schooling was “marked by an early flexibility” because today when thinking about the educational system flexible is one of the last words I would think of.  Home schooling has been on the rise and proves to help improve student learning. I had never realized that there was a branch of conservative homeschooling and liberal homeschooling.  I also never knew that parents do not have to be certified as teachers to home school their child. This concerns me because if a parent suddenly decides they do not want their child home schooled, I may get the student in my classroom. It would be hard to help the student adjust to regular schooling especially if they have been raised in a particular way with their family’s value integrated in their schooling. I was also surprised to know that parents only spend about 3 to 4 hours a day working with their children.

In the category of workplace learning, I thought it was interesting that workplaces are now putting employees through simulations to deal with situations that they may realistically run into in their profession. The same thing could be done in the classroom when showing students how a task should be done. If my school lacks the funds to do a science experiment with hands on tool, I would look into an online simulation that shows my students how to conduct the experiment and what would happen. I do not think that online simulations should be used all the time because of the importance of hands on learning. In regards to distance education I think it would be great to if possible Skype with another teacher from a different culture, let’s say Costa Rica, and show the different types of plants that are native there versus the types native to Wisconsin. The experience would be beneficial for both classrooms and I think students would be excited to see students their age from another country.

Online courses can be of great assistance to many people who can’t find the time or money to attend a university. A good friend of mine had back problems that prevented her from attending school in her regular classroom so she enrolled into online classes.  I hope that elementary schools will not start holding classes online because I think fewer children would be motivated to learn. Regarding the educational television and videos, I am not supportive of the idea. If kids are allowed to just sit around and be educated that’s contributing to the child obesity rate which is already much too high. I thought that the computer based software section was reaching a bit far to connect education and the Sims programs. The programs were not meant to be educational tools but are provided more for entertainment purposes. When using computer programs I think that programs that target the subject more and are suited for an education purpose would be more effective.