Chapter 8: How Schools Can Cope with the New Technologies

This chapter starts off discussing the three imperatives to using technology in schools; customization, interaction, and learner control. It is important for students to be able to have the choice of the knowledge they want to learn individually. Interaction means that computers can give immediate feedback to learners and to engage them. Learner control refers to the choice of learners putting their own understanding and learning into their own hands. Then the chapter goes on to discuss three main ways that technology can bring together new and old ideas on technology. The first of these ideas is performance-based assessment. This involves national certifications and skill-based assessment systems. Students would be able to get certifications that direct them to their specific career goals. They achieve as many of these certificates that they need to to be qualified to work where they desire. This gives learners more choice, and hopefully keeping students interested and keeping up with education. I think this is a super idea, but I still think it is important to get those other important aspects into education. I don't think that it should be so directed because students will be missing out on so much important information that they can use for the rest of their lives. The next idea discussed in this chapter is curriculum designs. This type of curriculum can help students focus their learning around their goals and interests. Once again I think this is generally a good idea, but it takes out a lot of other important aspects of knowledge. Lastly, new approaches to equity in a digital world was discussed. The hope of technology based schools is that it will keep students interested because they will study things that interest them. The drop out rates will hopefully decrease. As a future teacher, once again, I plan on making sure to let my students have academic choice. I think it is very important for students to study what they enjoy, but I also think other knowledge is imperative to be good citizens and other things like that. I wouldn't like to have schools like this because I am much partial to the ways schools are run today, but some aspects would be nice to slowly incorporate into the classroom I will though be open to change based on what these new technologies are bringing, and if they are included in the district I end up teaching in.