Story summaries and links to full-length articles delivered to your desktop, news reader, or added to your blog or Web site.
 |
Education Is Destiny |
Reinventing Education
on May 14, 2009
Comment
One area that desperately needs reinvention is the school library and computer lab. Academic libraries and now school libraries are developing learning...
One area that desperately needs reinvention is the school library and computer lab. Academic libraries and now school libraries are developing learning commons as a way to connect with kids and teens in their world, push web 2.0 technologies, create a center for school improvement, and showcase excellence in teaching and learning. Warehouses that distribute stuff are just not cutting it any more.
on May 20, 2009
show more
show less
4 more comments
Did you know that many of our nation’s greatest inventions and innovations were created during the Great Depression? BusinessWeek recently wrote an article about the entrepreneurs who flourished and prospered in the 1930s. Items developed during that decade include electric razors, supermarkets, the game of Monopoly and xerographic copies.
Tough times, ironically, can create the ideal environment to foster creativity. I have heard people in the education community speculate about what will be the great innovation of this economic crisis. I think that one of the greatest creations we could develop is a reinvention of schooling and education. For more than three decades, news articles, journals and books have stressed the necessity of transforming schools in order to maintain our country’s economic competitiveness and prosperity. But not enough schools have transformed, which leaves some kids without the skills they need to make the United States more competitive.
Converge has just wrapped up a six-city tour to discuss the opportunities that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) offers. This is like no other time in recent history because we have funding to make many great ideas a reality. The United States is already equipped with the resources and creative capital to make life easier than ever before, and now, it has a president who is making education a priority.
Although the opportunities are on the table, education leaders still have to do their part by adding innovation. I see some schools and state leaders ready to forge ahead, and I see others perpetuating the same old arguments that aren't helping to improve education. What will happen if we don’t figure out how to keep the next generation of entrepreneurs inspired?
You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to
http://www.convergemag.com/blog/education/Reinventing-Education.html
Comments
on May 20, 2009
One area that desperately needs reinvention is the school library and computer lab. Academic libraries and now school libraries are developing learning commons as a way to connect with kids and teens in their world, push web 2.0 technologies, create a center for school improvement, and showcase excellence in teaching and learning. Warehouses that distribute stuff are just not cutting it any more.
on May 26, 2009
I agree with the previously mention need for reinventing the library and also the computer lab. As a CIO in charge of technology in a school district I see this time of economic challenge as a great opportunity to develop opportunities on the networks that we have built. In our district and in the state of Kentucky bandwidth is not an issue nor is access both wired and wireless. It is time to innovate and see what we can do with the capacity we have at hand. From allowing third-party appliances onto the network to diversifying the type of device used to bolstering professional development through partnerships between technology and instruction there is plenty of opportunity to improve with what we have at hand.
on May 26, 2009
As school administrators - we need to grasp new and inventive ways to "break the mold" of our current classrooms. We need to push down the walls and provide students with learning experiences that engage all their senses. Technology will be one of the vehicles to systematic change that well move schools from depositories of knowledge to centers of creative thinking that will allow students to embrace our new "Flat World" and to be globally competitive.
on Aug 10, 2009
I am extremely interested in finding ways to reinvent education in this constantly changing world. For my part, I have begun making education iPhone applications that may be of use in and out of classrooms. The iPhone platform offers unique capabilities that can make it an extremely useful learning tool. If you want to check out how I'm trying to put those capabilities to good use, here's my website:
http://web.me.com/douglaspneill/www.douglaspneillapps.com/Welcome.html
I would love to here any comments/suggestions you may have, especially from an administrative perspective. See website for contact info.
