Dan Brown... the value of information. One young person's view of the traditional education model. If you teach older students or talk to parents about the education futures for their kids how might this view inform what you have to say?
Can you do a rif on the value of information and what that means to how teachers teach today?
Just food for thought.
YouTube - An Open Letter to Educators
I feel that he had a lot of good points (and lovely editing). However, I also feel that a few of the comments under his video had good points as well, including the point that not everything on the internet is correct (for example: Mapquest directions to the house of one of my friends-along a road that doesn't exist). It is interesting food for thought about the state of information though. I still feel that I would need the education of an actual person being with me, sharing their knowledge while learning a new tool or strategy. Heaven knows that is MUCH FASTER than some of my trial and error attempts with technology. I also believe that everyone needs someone to start them with the skills to locate the information they seek and peers with which to converse at their level to create true comprehension. Sometimes I fear the information age has left those last few skills behind in it's race for more information.
ReplyDeleteAlso, knowing my own limitations, I wouldn't necessarily go out and engage in theoretical educational in my own time as I am forced to with an Institutional Education. That isn't something you can go out and "fact find" on the internet.
I found this video very interesting as well. If you look at the word information, it could be considered a sequence of symbols that transmit a message. That message is related to communication, or to instruction, knowledge, meaning and perception. The word literally means to instruct or teach. I guess that’s why universities were considered the main source of information. I think there is still value in attending institutions of higher learning, because it is assumed that the faculty has studied the information, and can guide students to interpret it correctly or make valuable connections. That factor is missing when you ‘surf the net’ and encounter all that information on your own. You have to act as your own instructor, in a way. Not that you shouldn’t really think about what you access or read, but sometimes it is helpful to have a more experienced or knowledgeable person to guide you. I agree with Emily that some Internet information is incorrect, or certainly ‘slanted’, and you have to be aware of that when you access it. The video really makes you think about both sides of the issue – traditional education vs. Internet education.
ReplyDeleteOkay.... I just got done watching Dan Brown's video twice! I couldn't tell if I hated him or liked him after the first time so I watched it again... I liked that he talked about the history of institutional education which made me want to research a little bit more about education and its progress till now. I agree with Dan Brown that technology is here to stay and teachers/admins/districts need to get on board or you'll be left behind. Everybody is now linked to the web in some shape or form! It is becoming more and more essential to function as a member of society. From banking to shopping to directions to research.... The web has made our society feel that we can't live without it. Whether you agree with it or not, you better start learning how to use it.
ReplyDeleteI got into education mainly because I despised those classes Dan was talking about where the lecture hall had over a hundred students jotting down facts that were spouted out by a professor while flipping through a power point.... Although, I can relate to what Emily said about the need for Institutional Education where there is a need to motivate, nudge or challenge students to go above and beyond, where they may not be willing to go on their own. I know I love to learn like all of you, but I get frustrated when I don't know where to go or need something to springboard me in a direction.
I'm afraid technology is sending the wrong message to educators... I started my masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus in technology and now there is no technology strand. Is technology not relevant for teachers or maybe there's still not a plan for teachers to utilize technology in their lessons effectively. Regardless, I continue to try new technology with my students and challenge them to explore on their own...
I feel like Dan Brown enjoyed bashing Institutional Education, which made me kinda sick! I think he needed to elaborate a little more on why he dropped out of school. A college education is still imperative when getting into a career.... I think Dan's institutionalized education instigated more real world creativity than what he leads us to believe!
I agree that this video prompts thinking about the pros and cons of accessing information on the Internet. I think it is useful to look at what the word information even means: a sequence of symbols that transmits a message. The word actually comes from another word meaning to instruct or teach. I guess that's an ironic connection between institutions and information: one of the jobs of the first is to teach the second. I do think that we need institutions of higher learning, because we still cannot easily replace the value of an actual person guiding us in understanding and making important connections and transmitting valuable messages. In today's world, we are offered so many resources for accessing information through the Internet. It does take some discernment to judge the reliability of what you find, so in that way you become your own instructor. Being 'on your own' places more responsibility on the 'surfer' to select the important and valid information. So,I can understand both perspectives - receiving an education through a university and utilizing resources from the Web. I think we benefit from the human element of a teacher, who can prompt us to learn how to learn, and the electronic, which opens up the information world.
ReplyDeleteUauuu...I really enjoy listing to Dan Brown. He is a character who every teacher and administrative staff has to listen very closely.
ReplyDeleteI agree with him 100% when he said that we need to teach students real life skills and not focus their learning process base on facts or theory that they can't put in practice. Students need to relate with the topic that they are learning; through technology and hands on activities we can make it possible.
Our students, today,are adolescent but tomorrow they will be adults so they need to be ready to confront a different world of information.
I watched the video clip and at first I kind of agreed with him. Then I started thinking back to my own learning experiences. I do believe that institutional education needs to change. Teachers or professors' roles are going to change from lecturers to facilitators. However, it still necessary for someone to guide our learning. Have you ever seen those commercials for Bing? Information overload. if everyone were left to their own devices, how many of us would rely on Wikipedia to get our knowledge? How much knowledge do you retain by reading alone? Teachers give their students opportunities to play with the information, to experience knowledge not just memorize it or look it up when it's convenient. How many of you would hire an engineer or architect knowing they received all their information from the internet?
ReplyDeleteWow... where do I start? First of all, I agree with everyone who has written so far that he made several good points but I also disagree and we'll see if I can explain why. Ok, he said that "learning facts is not the focus of education" (or he at least said something along those lines) which is something I agree with. Education isn't and shouldn't be just about memorizing facts. As a matter of fact (hehe...), my mom always used to tell me (when I was having trouble memorizing things) that it was far more important to know how to find information than to simply know the information.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I DISagree that facts are not an important part of education. In the last class that I took at Otterbein we talked about different ways that we could teach students to find or learn facts on their own. Facts can't just be eliminated from education because SOME facts ARE important.
I think Dan Brown is right in saying that it's easier to find information and knowledge on the internet than in a textbook but I disagree that teachers are useless to their students during that process. Many students who have special needs, for example, especially need the guidance of their teachers and a very concrete, step-by-step "guide" to learning that just browsing the internet does not provide. Even those without special needs often need the motivation, clarification, or encouragement that sometimes only comes from teachers.
So I guess overall I think he has some pretty good ideas about where education should be headed but I also think he's a bit naive about how children/students/people learn.