This chapter was pretty brief, but it really boiled down many of the issues that have been discussed throughout the entire book so far. In the section regarding what could be lost I think one piece that I really agree with that isn’t necessarily new thinking is the loss of interaction with differing viewpoints in American education. To a certain extent one major point of view is always being expressed in American schools, depending on your community and its diversity schools tend to reflect the majority of leaning of the community putting their values and ideals forward whether it occurs through set district guidelines or just by who happens to teach in that community. So in a way some exposure to different points of view has been lost in American education. However, to go with the extreme of pulling students out of that environment, can fully shelter them from ideas that they might not be exposed to normally and I think that is a shame. By losing that I think there is a loss of powerful learning tool. By people having their beliefs, viewpoints, etc. challenged they may gain a new way of thinking or at very least can understand their own point of view better. Also I agreed with the fact that pulling out of that common education already does add to the increased polarization of American culture. I am not sure how much could be lost in terms of interpersonal relationships however. I think even if people are using more individualized forms of learning people still have to interact with each other. What may change is more so how people interact with each other. There may be less face to face contact, but to go to the extreme of it being completely lacking I think is an overstatement. In the area of what can be gained, the idea of tailoring education to what people want to learn is a great concept. People are always more engaged when they are learning something that they feel is important to them. One way I think that new education in traditional schools could be modeled is by allowing more student choice. To a certain degree there is some choice in schools particularly at the upper levels, but really there is a need for greater choice. Technology seems to be able to help that. Distance education is something that I feel needs to be more utilized in schools to meet the needs of more learners. It really expands the options of what a student can learn in terms of courses. I think one of the key ideas that was presented in this section was that in order for more individualized learning to occur, students have to want to learn. That may be the biggest challenge in all of this, motivation and I think with that there will always be a need for teachers and the fear of not needing educators with increased use of technology is unfounded.
How I think this will change my future teaching is that as a major focus regardless if it is the old system or the new system motivation of students will be the biggest challenge. I foresee that will be the biggest area for what I will have to concentrate on as an educator. Using technology tools may be a way to get students more in to content, but I think building relationships with students and learning how to motivate them will be the area I have to work on the most.
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