Chapter 9 – New Schools New School: A school in which “educators can adapt and change” (178). Educators, then, are the molding force, the ones who must change to meet the demands of a diverse society’s changing needs. The Vision and the Reality: The vision of the new school entails an environment where everyone is involved in the changing force that meets the society’s needs, and in maintaining the high standards of education. The principal, librarian, teachers, superintendent, etc. all contribute to the new school (180). Instead of a textbook, a classroom might set up a wiki in order for students to “construct their own study resources” (180). The reality of the situation is that educators often don’t work together. The old school setting prevails, where administrators focus mainly on their own things, separate from the rest of the school, and teachers perpetuate old methods of teaching (180). Software: one problem facing the new school is not that schools have no software, but that teachers don’t know how to use it, and are therefore reluctant to do so in their lessons (182). Teachers, then, in order to bring about the new school, must become fluent in their software skills. Wikis as alternatives to textbooks: Wikis provide a space where students and their teachers can interact and collaborate on “content worthy of textbooks” (182). Professional Development (http://k12onlineconference.org/) presentations on “practical, pedagogical uses of online social tools in the classroom” (186). Many rural areas do not have access to broadband, and this causes the digital divide (187). Teachers must push for students of all communities to have Internet access in order for the vision of the new school to become a reality. Net Neutrality: the debate between competition vs. democracy comes out in the discussion of net neutrality. Networks “claim that websites should pay for content to be transmitted on the networks. Those who pay would have their content transmitted faster than those who don’t” (187). This poses a problem for democracy, because those who don’t or can’t pay will have slower transmission, and individuals will simply go to other sites.
Chapter 9 – New Schools
New School: A school in which “educators can adapt and change” (178). Educators, then, are the molding force, the ones who must change to meet the demands of a diverse society’s changing needs.
The Vision and the Reality:
The vision of the new school entails an environment where everyone is involved in the changing force that meets the society’s needs, and in maintaining the high standards of education. The principal, librarian, teachers, superintendent, etc. all contribute to the new school (180). Instead of a textbook, a classroom might set up a wiki in order for students to “construct their own study resources” (180).
The reality of the situation is that educators often don’t work together. The old school setting prevails, where administrators focus mainly on their own things, separate from the rest of the school, and teachers perpetuate old methods of teaching (180).
Software: one problem facing the new school is not that schools have no software, but that teachers don’t know how to use it, and are therefore reluctant to do so in their lessons (182). Teachers, then, in order to bring about the new school, must become fluent in their software skills.
Wikis as alternatives to textbooks: Wikis provide a space where students and their teachers can interact and collaborate on “content worthy of textbooks” (182).
Professional Development (http://k12onlineconference.org/) presentations on “practical, pedagogical uses of online social tools in the classroom” (186).
Many rural areas do not have access to broadband, and this causes the digital divide (187). Teachers must push for students of all communities to have Internet access in order for the vision of the new school to become a reality.
Net Neutrality: the debate between competition vs. democracy comes out in the discussion of net neutrality. Networks “claim that websites should pay for content to be transmitted on the networks. Those who pay would have their content transmitted faster than those who don’t” (187). This poses a problem for democracy, because those who don’t or can’t pay will have slower transmission, and individuals will simply go to other sites.