http://biggovernment.com/bmattox/2011/03/29/will-public-schools-co-opt-digital-education/#more-244744
Something that every school board member/trustee/teacher/superintendent/principal/parent should consider when re-vamping education to include technological advances. It doesn't make sense to fit a square peg into a round hole.
On one hand, I can see the need for some kind of deadline. After all, you're looking at (well, just reading) a gal who just got an incomplete on her landscaping course. Actually, maybe that proves the other point--I did have a deadline, I just didn't have time to accommodate the homework. I have kept the reading material, and I WILL learn something about landscaping, but my records are tarnished with an "I".
On the other hand, which turns out to be the same hand after all, as a (former) private violin instructor, I saw first-hand the beauty of "independent" study. Each child can learn the violin, whether or not they are "gifted" or "talented." Some will learn more quickly than others, and the end results will not be the same, but each child can learn to be proficient at anything.
Maybe the one concern that we need to address is motivation and discipline. I was obviously not motivated or disciplined enough to complete my landscaping course in a timely manner. And I have had students who made little progress in spite of their potential because they didn't practice. So, how do we help our kids stay motivated, if they aren't internally motivated?
1 comment:
Yeah, I agree - it's a motivation/discipline thing. Kids who want to (or whose learning style it particularly suits, which is very common), can learn a TON from electronic/technological presentation of material. But if it feels like movie day in class, and they feel like they can slack off (like I did in HS), it doesn't work so great.
I've seen it teaching piano, too.
I figure that the only way to encourage them is to help them catch the "big picture" - the grand vision of what beauty they can achieve. But that only works when they're up for it, too.
I have to come back to the realization that, even "God will force no man to heav'n." We can't make people change, or value particular things, which is probably for the best, LOL... but if we find their interests and work with them, they're more likely to get somewhere beautiful. And maybe their "somewhere beautiful" isn't even something we can visualize, you know?
On a related note, I wonder if my Family Life (or whatever it was) course was linked to my actual transcript... I started it, but didn't get past the first lesson before I completely forgot about it, LOL!
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