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The future is now…?
December 31, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Received this document – Future Ready Students for the 21st Century – from a colleague a couple of days ago, and then saw David Warlick’s blog response. Seems the State Board of Education in North Carolina has decided that maybe preparing our students for the future as we rush headlong into a the 21st century can’t necessarily be measured in standardized test scores.
I was particularily encouraged by the section that explicitly emphasizes the importanec of access to technology for students.
- Every student uses technology to access and demonstrate new knowledge and skills that will be needed as a life-long learner to be competitive in a constantly changing international environment.
The educational apostles are succeeding. It’s not about the technology. It’s about the information. Information is the currency of the new century. The new story of education must include giving students the skills to harvest, assess, evaluate, manipulate and communicate that information.
The vision is exciting – just the kind of conversation piece that we need to start the new story that needs to be told. I am also, however, concerned that while the people in the trenches, and even in the support roles behind the lines, recognize the necessity of reflecting the new global environment in a new educational system, the generals in the war rooms haven’t received the message.
We have just had an election in our province. A new government has emerged, and we have yet to receive any indication as to what role technology will play in their plans for education, especially where they place the growing 1:1 laptop project. It’s one of many projects being reviewed, but the one that is dearest to my heart.
I have much respect for the new Minister of Education. New Brunswick is a small jurisdiction, so small that I am lucky to know him personally. I consider him a friend. He is smart, thoughtful and respectful. I am just not sure of his government believes that 1:1 is cost-effective. The new government is cash strapped to keep election promises, and has even altered one already in the name of budget constraint and questions about whether or not it is good public policy. Then there is the question of optics (1:1 was insitiated by a political rival) so I am afraid that the educational changes that had placed our province on the inside of the 21st century may be stalled or shelved.
Weekly trips to media labs just won’t cut it. The ONLY way that we can accomplish these goals and teach these skills is to venture into the world inhabited by our youth. We can’t complete with the ubiquitous access to information our children expect, we must provide it in our schools, and that can only happen in 1:1 environments.
Then again, maybe my concerns are ill-founded. I hope so. The fundamental shift from educator centered “teaching” to a “community of learners” brough about by 1:1 is powerful and the right direction. I hope the new Minister of Education has a chance to read the North Carolina document and the recent cover article in Time.
