TRENDS in EDUCATION: Just BLOGGPOLLUTION?

Hello EDU 255 Bloggers, 

I am responding to the Canadian chaps who are required reading this and last week. (Actually, I started to enjoy reading it this week...less charts with arrows .)

"We use new tools to do the work of the old." - M. McLuhan

Applying what I know about brain research and learning to my own learning in the class, I am trying to make a connection so that I can understand this material. Keeping that in mind, I proceed.

What if we were asked: 

Are libraries just a fad? 

How about that new moving horseless carriage, the automobile? 

Will all American households have a ______? (phone, TV, computer)

Absolutely, the nature of education is changing due to technology. We are in the digital age. We are just beginning to learn how to apply this knowledge in the classroom. It is not a trend. However, as the reading notes "educational technique is lagging behind technological development".  I agree with that statement and suggest the reasons for it below:

• Teachers must adhere to state mandates that are often antiquated. For example, the current assessments used across the nation to measure  students' academic achievement are mostly all multiple choice (re: multiple guess) standardized tests. In the early 1990's AZ was ahead of the assessment game and was using authentic tests to measure student achievement. Then, there was a political shift in state and federal government, and out went the new and back in came the old ways to measure. Educational technique is influenced by politics. With the tools now available to learners and educators, I see this as one of the fastest ways for those who are motivated and have resources available to them to soar. Unfortunately, will those learners be the ones to receive the scholarships and join the tradition forms of formal education? Or, maybe, having the degree will become less essential, if one has created their own credentials via an e-portfolio?
• Technology is mainstreamed. Computers are used at the gas station, the grocery stores and my recent dental X-rays were digital. I am not saying this means that every household has a computer. During a recent in service to a local high school when I asked the students how many had access to a computer at home only HALF of the students raised their hands. (12 out of 24). I am concerned about the disparity and the feelings of disinfranchment this is causing. What are your thoughts on that topic?

In summary, I feel technology influences education. The form of education will be one that is blended. There will be those who use contructivist philosophy to teaching  and there will be the educators who will be limited by their current inaccessability to the same tools.