The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is a modernisation to the traditional classrooms concerned with pens, paper and textbooks. This archaic and stereotypical convention of the classroom is rapidly developing into a technological enterprise, trading books for laptops and paper for tablets. A technology based learning environment can use many features. These features are the ‘technological […]
via A ‘Flipped’ Alternative to the Classroom — Site Title
Technology and Education 
For what is worth, what follows is by someone who cares a lot more than the average person about education, and have researched it extensively and am still doing so as we speak. And of course, that in no way means am right. Am just sharing what’s become lucid to me over time and after reading quite a few books on education and speaking to people in the field.
Regarding the article, it’s interesting, and the premise of the article sure makes sense. LOVE the idea of it. But am still quite skeptical about it for various reasons.
My issue with it is that, am not sure if a lot of technology is needed in the classroom. Some? Sure, yes. What is a lot? What is some? Who knows? This is something we all need to talk about, because it will play a vital role in what takes place in the classroom, for better or worse.
However, it seems that the more and more we steer away from our original roots, which is in person teaching, enormous classrooms with one teacher, etc etc, the more and more dumbed down society becomes. Ironically, not long ago a study came showing the US ranked dismally in Education. In fact, have a post about this very issue that am posting today regarding how atrocious the US did in math, literacy and more.
Here is the article:
https://thebreakaway.wordpress.com/2017/01/18/the-catastrophic-decline-of-public-schooling-twenty-one-facts-about-schooling/
The United States, arguably one of the top technological countries in the world -if not THE top one – has technology nigh everywhere. Western culture is already flooded with it. Its part of the culture’s DNA. Society doesn’t need more technology, they need human interaction. Technology does the opposite of human interaction. Nigh everyone knows how to use technology [even 2 or 3 year olds are using smart screens in many instances], but nobody knows true history, health, nutrition, the trivium [logic, grammar, rhetoric], and core concepts that used to be taught to everyone centuries ago, mostly by the community/family, and almost get no light of day. We barely get facsimiles of the those disciplines, if we get them at all.
The other problem is, that have talked to many people teachers while researching common core, and most say that what we need is more in-person relationships with students, not less. That’s of course NOT to say that technology doesn’t have a place, because it does. It’s just that it gets way to much light, and we don’t even know if it’ll work as efficiently as education worked centuries ago. The more and more we venture away from our roots, the less people are capable to even have a decent conversation about things that matter these days.
The other irony is that, if you study what the elite in Silicon valley and in many places they, they do not want children being taught in such a manner. They want one on one attention, human interaction, and countless other nuances that the rest of the populace is subjected too. And its ironic, because many of those people end up running the place, and calling the shots. The fact that they themselves received a drastically different education, and want the same for their children should be ruminated upon quite a bit.
To finalize, technology should be implemented, but after all other issues such as literacy, mathematics, the trivium, logic, and a host of other issues that aren’t even being given the light of day, but would have resounding effects on our education. When other countries, that are less technological advanced/capable, leave us in the dust in education, its time to start to rethink exactly what Western education is, and what it is not. Until we realize what it truly is, it won’t matter how much technology we throw at the problem if kids keep sifting through the cracks en masse.
By the way, as a caveat, you SHOULD post more things like this. People need to ponder about it at length. Think its great that you are doing this, because its rare when people are so concerned with education.
Kindest Regards,
-Zy
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