My Reaction to "A Vision of K-12 Students Today"

This video really brings to attention the gap between teacher's knowledge of technology and children's knowledge of technology. Our students today are growing up with it and learning quickly while many teachers are comfortable with the way they have always done things and do not want to take the time to try new things. Even with my own teaching I do not incorporate technology on a regular basis. If we, as teachers, really want to instruct our students we need to use new methods that will not only engage them in that moment but also really be of use to them in the future.

Also the students in the video held up signs saying they want to learn how to think and analyze. Unfortunately many students shut down when asked to think because they are so accustomed to just retelling memorized information back to the teacher. As teachers we need to find methods of getting students to think without them knowing it. Incorporating technology and things like blogs is an excellent idea to get their attention and encourage them to want to learn more.

However one thing I did not like about the video was the comparison of the United States' education to the education of China. Incorporating more technology into our curriculum is an excellent start to us catching up to China's progress but it is in no way the answer to our problems. I have only been teaching four years but from what I have seen, one of the greatest obstacles in our education system is the negative attitudes toward education where the students and/or parents do not see the value of education. A numerous amount of my own students do not understand why they have to take a foreign language in high school and only complete the minimum requirements. These types of attitudes start at home and until we have an entire shift in attitude about education, all the money and technology will still not let us compete at the same level as China.

Click here to see A vision of K-12 Students Today