The Future of Education

The TED talk dealing with students teaching themselves really woke me to the reality that the way classrooms are set up disrupt students' ability to be fully engaged in the learning process. Disinterest in material strongly impacts the way students learn, or do not learn. As a prospective teacher, I have been searching for the good and bad in academia as we know it today. Through my scope, I observe that students are given a lot of what often appears to be "busy" work in addition to preparation for tests and papers that only produce short-term learning and effort. I am dismayed at my own inability to be actively engaged in classroom because I find that even my college courses are rigorous and inapplicable to the life I expect to lead upon graduation.

So what is the solution? Well, it seems as though technology will almost always be part of the solution in the future of education. The rapid innovations in the past several years have captivated the attention of both consumers and students. In literature classes, books are being replaced by iPads; even in classes where technology does not seem necessary, it is being used to intrigue students and maintain their attention. I wonder frequently if this is the approach that is the best. Thinking from my perspective, technology is a distraction that detaches me from the reality of what I am doing. I am not actually being inspired by the technology surrounding me.

This article touches on the future of education and technology (http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/jun/19/technology-future-education-cloud-social-learning). While I think of technology as a way to captivate students' attention, the article deals with the practicality of technology. Access to information and materials can help students in practical or logistic ways. Like where can they find notes, store/access documents, ect. This idea of connect-ability goes beyond the borders of a classroom, it becomes a way students and educator can exchange ideas.