Why can’t we use technology to fix education?

Technology has made the traditional view of educating redundant. This is a blessing in disguise because it is forcing the development of a longneeded alternative view.

But that view is impeded by the complexity of the changes required. I think we are kidding ourselves if we believe that there are simple solutions. The answer is in understanding what is needed. Physician, heal thyself.

We are all aware of the stress that teachers encounter on a daily basis. Education systems are in chaos all over the world and throwing money around doesn’t fix them. Children don’t learn so we blame it on learning disabilities. Inclusion makes the situation worse. Many children are being labelled as unable to learn even before they are given a reasonable chance to try. When a plant doesn’t grow we fix the soil, not the plant. If we want everyone to be educated, we have to fix the system.

I think students and teachers alike are frustrated with an education system that is blind to the reality of modern technology. When I was in school I had to remember it to know it because there was no easy access to information. But now we don’t need to waste time memorizing because we have instant access to everything that is learned from K to 12. The model of teaching knowledge is redundant. It needs to be replaced with a model that uses knowledge to simulate, do productive work, build occupations, professions and lifestyles, share information and create new knowledge. By using knowledge we will remember it anyway, and in a more permanent way. We need a paradigm shift. As Socrates, the inventor of education, said, “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”

When the printing press was invented, all the monastery scribes rebelled against it and burned the presses. Educators are doing the same thing to the computer. We are afraid it will replace us. So we are finding all kinds of excuses to berate and marginalize computers by rationalizing the “damage” they are doing to developing minds. But, in reality, “screen time” is a fact of life now. It is a matter of managing it. The computer is a fixation in the workplace. So educators have to embrace the computer as well in an integrated way, not just peripherally.

This means we have to look at the problems in terms of the system. We have this multitalented human resource doing mundane work that can be handled by computers. We can put a computer on the desk of each student and take care of content delivery. That is not to say we do not need content experts. We still need teachers to help students with content. But freeing up teachers from delivering content gives them more time to attend to the individual needs of students.

When individualized learning was tried years ago it got bogged down in the creation of printed learning guides, which stagnated the learning process. A more dynamic approach is needed.

We can convert the computer into a dynamic window on knowledge that provides the teacher with the ultimate teaching tool. We can use it to frame curriculum to accomplish any objective we care to set. We can use it to train students to manage curriculum. Students can use it to match Internet resources with learning objectives. Teachers can use it to create knowledge resources and place them online for student use. But most importantly, the computer can free the teacher to become a professional learning manager.

We need to allow students to explore the world of relative information; understand how our brains think and produce knowledge; and how we can use knowledge to learn, to be productive, to develop our lifestyles and careers, to share knowledge, and to create new knowledge. We can bring technological change to education. It will disrupt but it will be a welcome disruption.

Many children are being labelled as unable to learn even before they are given a reasonable chance to try. When a plant doesn’t grow we fix the soil, not the plant.

Walter Smith Paradise