Comments on: Need help.

By: Uninspected baggage « Thinking Out Loud

Uninspected baggage « Thinking Out Loud — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:43:11 +0000

[...] I’m still unpacking the implications of George Siemens’ question “does education need to change?” My answer was yes, but– surprise!!– not everyone agrees on how, if at all. Here [...]

By: Nicola

Nicola — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 07:35:15 +0000

Hi, I asked the 12seconds team if they could make it a 12second challenge (slightly changed the wording), they were going to feature it last week but it hasn't emerged yet (will find out), in the meantime have also asked via Yahoo Answers , some responses. Also hoping to send through link to an oovoo video chat I had with someone, but that might not be possible now, sorry.

By: j r boyd

j r boyd — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:56:39 +0000

This is late, but I’m gonna plop my 2 cents worth:
Does education need to change?
Yes. Duh.

Why or why not?
A simple example should suffice: I have two kids in middle/high school and in both cases they are taking at least one class from a teacher who is either burnt out on their chosen career or unqualified to teach the subject. The result is that at just the prime moment in their lives that they could become engaged or inspired in a particular subject area, they are being disengaged by the apathy or the approach of the “educator”, or both. I suspect this is a common problem across the educational spectrum.

If it should change, what should it become? How should education (k-12, higher, or corporate) look like in the future?
This has too many facets to give justice to all, so I will focus on one biggie. Education has to figure out a way to personalize the experience using all the tools in the box without pandering to all the superfluous (and that certainly varies by individual) or unrequited whims of the student, young or old. Teachers need to be using all these tools in an authentic manner, not just as district or administratively mandated bolt-ons to their curriculum. And to do that they need professional development that acknowledges change and provides them with the resources to make those experiences authentic for themselves before they migrate them into the classroom. If they cannot find the time, wherewithall and inspiration to master the subject and make the presentation of it engaging and authentic, they should be (not so) delicately prodded into a new career.
A huge problem with education is what to do with educators when they have reached the end of their “duty cycle” – the common model is for them to become administrators or worse- to keep on teaching the way they have been teaching for decades, like a prisoner of war waiting to be freed while slowly starving.
We need to find a model that values the experience and potential (which will vary) of these individuals and give them options that nonetheless gets them off of the front lines of teaching.
I’ll stop there.
Thanks for asking, George.

By: Arieliondotcom

Arieliondotcom — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:41:06 +0000

George, I don’t know why you keep asking questions I’ve already answered on my blog. Maybe it’s because I just realized I forgot to tag my Paper #3 for #CCK08 so you may never have seen it. I hope you did! Anyway, it (and my answers to your questions): http://arieliondotcom.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/paper-3-fleeing-the-planet-of-past-pedagogies/

By: CCK08: Wait– done already? « Thinking Out Loud

CCK08: Wait– done already? « Thinking Out Loud — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:35:16 +0000

[...] the many posts by fellow participants that deserve comment, and George Siemens’ recent questions about the growth of online learning and what new learning might look like. These are things [...]

By: Mary Rearick

Mary Rearick — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:27:01 +0000

Education is always changing. Education takes place in dynamic social, political, cultural, and economic community contexts. Educational standards evolve from educated community (Illich). Educational development is reflected in sum total of the educational process over time. Educational development and educational progress interact in dynamic, nonlinear manner. Educational norms–norms of interaction and interpretation–also evolve as educated people interact and reconsider what is worth knowing, why, and how knowledge (domains, concepts, understanding, expertise, etc. is transmitted, constructed, or created. Educational science is the systematic description of what is. In my forty years as an educator, I have experienced and observed many traditions, transitions, and transformations in educational practice, and theorizing. I suppose as long as I breathe, I will experience, participate in educational theorizing and change educational settings and practices.

By: Jenny Mackness

Jenny Mackness — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:05:07 +0000

My brief thoughts are here:
http://jennymackness.wordpress.com/

By: saudixpat

saudixpat — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:08:14 +0000

Hi George,

loved the questions. My answers have been shaped by some of my readings on my own, some projects and some courses I am taking presently. Enjoy my thoughts here at

http://saudixpat.wordpress.com/2008/11/25/education-needs-to-be-changed/

I hope some of you read and respond to them!

By: Saudixpat

Saudixpat — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:06:03 +0000

Hi George,

I have come across your name from colleagues in technology and in some of my research for a master’s course I am in. I am coming around to a new paradigm as how we interact changes and the tools we use to do so also change. This has been impacted at the same time by a global project I am involved in flatclassroomproject2008.wikispaces.com as well as reading Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat”. I look forward to your or anybody else’s response to my thoughts.

By: gsiemens

gsiemens — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:03:15 +0000

Thanks for your responses!

I’ll begin reviewing and compiling comments about mid-december. I’ll post thoughts on this site sometime in January…

again, thanks for your help…and if you haven’t posted yet, but would like to, you still have time