Bill Thompson who writes for BBC’s technology pages on the website has been talking about the technology of teaching. He’s apparently just been to a government-backed meeting looking into the future of technologies in education.
Here’s a little taste of what he’s said:
Learning looks set to undergo a big change as novel technologies make it into the classroom, says Bill Thompson.
Grasping the likely technological shifts is one thing, but what do they imply for education? This is a much harder question, since once you start looking at the way schools operate then you start to question teaching methods, assessment, exams and even the very existence of “schools” and “classrooms”.
If every student has a powerful network device that plugs them into the network, and work on digitising every book and other forms of knowledge has been successful, then what is the point of teaching “facts”?
BBC NEWS | Technology | The technology of teaching
Slight problem here, educators (horrible word, but otherwise you get the list) are already at it Bill!
There are many of us exploring how various technological applications work – with everything from the smartphone through to web 2.0 applications.
What is interesting that just as the government seem to be getting to grips with the subject, those that have been around for some time are stopping using the term elearning and moving towards learning (although maybe we could put a 2.0 on the end to make it a bit more hip).
Will there be an end to schools and classrooms? No. It may be that we end up going down a more blended route, but what about those who don’t have access to the technology (last time I checked there were still a massive amount of people without web access, let alone broadband)?
It’s the same thing that the media are facing, the delivery channels are in flux and educators and education will have to adapt – there will be winners and losers along the way.
But if Bill thinks that all that is taught in schools is fact, he’s got a surprise coming – go and check out what (e) learning is happening already in schools where small-scale pioneers are at work. Go and check the wider collaborative projects that are happening up and down the country.
To be fair Bill is a technology correspondent and doesn’t cover education – but maybe he should head along to the JISC conference in Birmingham next month to see what is happening and meet some of my fellow edugeeks who are keen to explore this bright new future.
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Carol
