bp3_2009101_Anti-Teaching

In his article “Anti-Teaching: Confronting the Crisis of Significance,” Michael Wesch discusses many of the problems that are occurring in our current system of education. As with many of the articles that we have read in previous classes, the system of education in the United States is still based in the Industrial Age instead of the Information Age. Teachers and schools need to start implementing the technologies that students are using on a consistent basis outside of school. Sitting in nice neat rows of desks listening to lectures on the Ancient Greeks is not the way to reach to today’s students. As Wesch states, “The most significant problem with education today is the problem of significance itself” (p. 5), and I would have to agree with his statement. If teachers cannot relate to their students and draw them into the lessons by showing the relationship to the real world, students will tune out. Teachers need to make the shift from “traditional” teaching ideas to new, creative means of teaching. Looking at Multiple Intelligences and Brain-Based learning, it is easy to see why teachers need to make the switch since it is impossible to teach every student in the lecture type model of education.

Are virtual learning environments the answer? I do not know if I would say that virtual learning environments are the only answer to the current educational problems we are facing. I agree that we need to use Web 2.0 tools and add personal responsibility to our students, but I think that most K-12 students still need guidance from teachers. Students, especially elementary and middle school aged students do not have enough personal accountability to strictly learn through CMS or PLEs. While they are a great tool and work wonderfully for collegiate students, younger students need more guidance. I think that K-12 public schools need to look at a combination of PLEs and the traditional approach to teaching. Although many teachers will agree that teaching to test is archaic, they will also agree that to an extent it will not go away. What teachers can control is how they teach the information that will appear on the test. I realize that not all schools have the ability to have computers in the classrooms and some families cannot afford to have a computer, but in an ideal world, I would like to see schools using more technology and having more computers in the classroom. Book reports, essays, and tests are not the only ways that teachers can assess student learning. The same factors can be assessed using digital storytelling, podcasts, comics, and blogs. Teachers need to use the technology available, and that students are already using, to enhance learning. When students are excited about learning, they learn more. Allowing students freedom to explore their own learning potential will only increase retention. Teachers need to bring back significance into education, and the way to do that is to use new tools that address multiple intelligences and brain-based learning and knowing your students. While technology is not the only way to save education, it is a step in the right direction to teaching beyond the test.