Interesting observation about like long learning with teachers...
Of Course I think it Matters May 9, 2007 at 8:45 am · Filed under education
From David's Blog - There has been an astonishing and healthy conversation going on about the blog entry I wrote the other day about that NYTimes laptops piece. The entry is entitled, What’s good about the May 4 NY Times Article about Laptops in Schools. Last night, in his signature prickliness, Gary Stager (not his first comment on this blog post) lamented that we have had computers in classrooms for 25 years, and that some teachers still resist them indicates “…a conscious effort to be non-learners.”
I’ve claimed my own frustration at teachers who ask, “But who’s going to teach me how to do that?” Sadly, we are a generation who was taught how to be taught — not how to teach ourselves. It’s one of the many reasons why the experiences that our children have in the classroom must become much more self-directed, relevant, and rich. They/we need to learn to teach ourselves. Teachers shouldn’t need professional development. They should be saying, hey, I’m going to teach myself how to do that this weekend. It’s about life long learning. Not about a life of being taught.
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It is true that teachers should be able to teach themselves. I learn best if I have at least have some guideposts / benchmarks that I can see or attain along the way. I know from past experience, that I can spend endless amounts of time searching and looking. Being taught / directed is a much more efficient and affective way for me to learn.
ReplyDeleteBob
I agree with your comments. My learning style has been to provide me with an overview and the basic steps and once I have some confidence I will explore on my own.
ReplyDeleteComputers may have been "in" classrooms for 25 years, but few schools have had the resources to allow teachers to use them to their full advantage. Most teachers have been burned so many times by technolgy that has failed to work when needed that they have given up.
ReplyDeleteI can teach myself to use most software given a week or even a weekend. But why should I spend that much time teaching myself when I can learn the same skill in an hour with some professional help.