Chapter 10: Rethinking Education In the Age of Technology

The last chapter of the book! This chapter basically wrapped up the entire book and went over the different ways we, as future educators, need to rethink education in a technological world. As far as learning goes, it has become easier and easier for children to learn outside of school with the technologies and resources they have. We need to learn what and how they are learning so we can incorporate these things into our classrooms. The chapter then went on to discuss rethinking motivation. The book states that our schools aren’t motivating students as they should be. I do agree with this but I disagree with their idea that students should learn more computer-based learning as opposed to teacher based learning. I am all for integrating technology into the classroom but I don’t think that students should just sit at a computer to learn and get instruction form the teacher “when necessary”. If this happened, when would it stop? Eventually there would be no schools, no teachers, just children learning at their computers. Computers are great tools and with all the resources we have it is great that children can find so many learning opportunities through the computers but I think there needs to be a balance between computers and human interactions. Throughout the book they have pushed the integration of technology but I think this book was pretty biased. The book took little time to discuss the negatives that could come from such heavy integrations of technology.  I do agree that it is undeniable that our schools are behind in this technological world and that schools need to work harder to change but I don’t think computers should become the main source of learning. Another main idea that was pushed throughout the book was life-long learning. Careers are no longer life-long as they used to be so we need to prepare our students for a future in this world. However, throughout the book it pushed the idea of students learning what they are interested in. I think it is important for students to become knowledgeable in things that interest them, but I think they also need to be knowledgeable in a variety of topics.

I think the book kind of contradicts itself because it states that students need to be life-long learners in order to prepare for a society where they might have several careers but it also pushes the idea that students should become knowledgeable in just the topics they want to be. One chapter even proposed the idea that high school students could get certified in certain areas instead of getting the traditional high school diploma. To sum up my thoughts and what I have learned throughout this book I would say that we need to find balance. In today’s society technology needs to be integrated but it is our job to figure out how to do it to best prepare our student’s for the future. Throughout this book I have learned not only about technology but about the American education system as a whole. I do have a new view on technology because before I really didn’t have a view at all. Now I know that technology is an essential aspect of education and it is our job to effectively integrate it into our classrooms.