Over at the Connected Principals blog, George Couros discussed what he saw as the biggest ‘game changer’ in education: “being open to new learning opportunities, doing something with them, and making that human connection to our learners.”
Here is the comment I left for George:Â
I would say that the biggest ‘game changer’ in education is the shift from educator control to student empowerment. When we enable greater student agency and put our children and youth in environments where they have much greater autonomy, ownership, and self-direction, completely different paradigms of learning, teaching, and schooling begin to emerge. Digital technologies and the Internet can be vital facilitators of these kinds of learning experiences but, as you note, George, they are but a means to a larger end. As long as we view schools as places where adults do things to kids, the game of school will never change. As Gary Stager says, “Less us, more them.”
Read George’s post and share your thoughts on what you see as the biggest ‘game changer’ in education!
The latest post on Grant Wiggin’s blog talks about this same idea. http://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2013/09/09/beyond-teacher-egocentrism-design-thinking/
It is a great take on learning vs teaching and the mindset change required.
I completely agree with you in that the transformation to more student driven learning is going to continue to transform education. It is time to embrace technology in the classroom and not stifle it. Students cellphones are their lives and there are so many more positive aspects that can be utilized inside the classroom than negatives with the students bringing their own devices. I believe it is our job as educators to teach students skills that will help them after their high school years are finished. If all we do is teach the curriculum I think we are doing them a disservice. We must teach them how to be self-reliant. No matter if they are college bound or career bound, students must know how to do more than take a test or create a poster or power point project.