http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm1sCsl2MQY
Mr. Winkle, after waking from a 100 year nap, is shocked to find a world full of the unfamiliar. The thing is, only Mr. Winkle finds this new world odd. Everyone else is used to the computers, phones, machines, and all the other technology. The world to which Mr. Winkle awoke is fast paced, complicated, and everything is much more in depth. This makes Mr. Winkle feel ill, so he seeks solace inside something that reminds him of the 100 year old past he was so fond of... a school. There are lectures with notes and nothing more, and Mr. Winkle is content once again. He loves the school, but the students inside feel like Mr. Winkle did when he first awoke- nauseated.
It seems to me as though Mr. Winkle and the students should switch places. The students, who have been awake during Mr. Winkle's 100 year nap have grown along with the technology, where as Mr. Winkle got left behind from it. If we as educators of the future, do not allow students to grow with the way our world is growing (deeper and deeper into technology, that is) we deprive them of the future. We are holding students in the past, which is why they are slipping further and further behind than students in other parts of the world. Perhaps Mr. Winkle should be in school, and the students should be out in the world instead... It is as if Mr. Winkle and the school program both have taken 100 year naps, and school has yet to awaken.
The world in which we live today requires students to be able to continue their learning even after they leave school. It is less about what you leave school with now, and more about all of the doors you can open all by yourself. If we as teachers do not give the students the keys to open these doors, they will never succeed. We must provide them with the tools now necessary to make it in the 21st century- tools of technology. We are calling students our "future" but not even allowing to live up to that title, because they are refused the use of technology as an education tool.
Keely, I agree with you that it is important that we not let technology pass us by in the classroom. It is indeed a disservice to our students if we do so. Letting technology zoom by without hopping on the train only gives way to our students falling further and further behind students in other countries like China, Japan, etc. Those students are already light years ahead of us in testing knowledge, etc. I fear the future stats if our students are not allowed to advance with new technology. The fact is that most students enjoy technology, so why not allow students them to use technology in the classroom? It seems to me that in doing so we would help bridge the gap between those students that hate school and those who love it with a middle ground including students who are beginning to have a desire to learn.
ReplyDeleteYou also mentioned that perhaps the students and Mr. Winkle should trade places. Maybe so, but also maybe they could just agree to meet in the middle. I’m sure that Mr. Winkle was stunned to see 100 years of technology all at once, instead of a gradual change. 100 years is a long time! Maybe if he could just take baby steps toward finding a happy medium with the students; after all, a happy medium seems best for students and older folks alike. Too much of a good thing usually turns out to be a bad thing. Ha ha. I find that of the older people that I know those who have taken small steps toward changes in new technology gradually, are the ones that seem the most well adjusted. I suppose this points to success in baby steps. Maybe it is a good idea for teachers to do the same; baby steps, then toddler steps, adolescent steps, and well, you see my idea. : )
Keely I agree that Mr. Winkle and the students should switch places. The students have grown up with the technology and would be better off exploring the world that it effects rather than sitting in a classroom listening to the same old lectures. Mr. Winkle can identify so well with the school because it hasn't changed in the last 100 years. In order for teachers to connect students to the outside world, technology is essential. When students leave the school system they will not remember the lecture given on a novel they read in English class, but rather the doors that were opened up to them with the technology programs they learned to use in school. I also agree on the comment of, "If we as teachers do not give the students the keys to open these doors, they will never succeed." This is so true because students cannot use lectures or worksheets to succeed. Technology will only become more and more advanced. It is up to us as educators to keep our students up to par so that they may continue to succeed outside of the school systems. The future of our students depends on the sacrifice and change of the way learning carries on in the classroom.
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