This idea of a flipped classroom is something that I find to be crazy. Students go to school to learn at school. I think it would be wrong to expect students to have computers and Internet access at home in order to do their homework/watch lectures. The kids who would have Internet access would be the rich kids; the poor kids would be left behind yet again. Khan mentioned that by watching the lectures at home, the teacher could plan more meaningful lessons that way with project and game based learning. I know that their type of learning is great for students, but teachers can still do this in a normal classroom. A good teacher will find the time to do all sots of differentiated instruction. Plus, the Common Core State Standards are going to require teachers to be more creative that they will probably be adding new types of instruction into their repertoire. The one good thing I see from the Khan lectures is that they could be a resource and only a resource. Teachers could recommend students to watch them as review or to help them understand something better. I do not think that they should be used as instruction though. I agree with all the concerns that Miller had in his article. They are all legitimate.
Finally, Grantham's article was interesting, but I did not like it. Some of the aspects of the technology like the biometrics was interesting, but do we really want to have students electrodes on them every day? It seems unethical to me. Students are people not lab rats. I find that some of these technologies are going to make teaching robotic. I have always wanted to be a teacher because I like helping others, am passionate about my subject area and am a people person. The key words there are people person, not robot person. I just think that heading down this road that is full of "mad technology" is the wrong one. I see something like a scene from The Terminator. Are robot overloads going to take us over someday? It sounds ridiculous, trust me, I know, but I do think that too much technology, and technology that is too advanced is a bad thing. We are already a lazy country, if we add more and more technology to our world and implement it every which way, we are soon going to turn into the fat people in hovercraft chairs that can be seen in Wall-E.
Kalyn, your response was interesting because it balances out my (mostly) glowing review of Khan Academy.
ReplyDeleteI never addressed the problem of the achievement gap in my response, but it is a very valid argument. I honestly believe that the lack of Internet access will become a non-existent problem in our generation of teaching. It is true that while today there are still many urban and poor students who don't have Internet access at home, I think pretty soon Internet will become affordable for nearly every family. Either that, or there will be a push for "Internet Cafes", an explosive trend in foreign countries like Asia, where anybody can pay a low flat rate for an entire night of Internet access and a private cubicle.
You also pointed out that anything Khan Academy can do, a teacher can do in their own classroom. This is true, but I think Khan's vision is to free up even more time for teachers in the classroom, a problem that is plaguing today's schools. As you said, Khan Academy is just a resource at the end of the day, but I don't think there is such a thing as "only a resource".
I would expand, but then this response would get long and confusing; there are a lot of subtleties in Khan Academy that could be made and discussed. Feel free to ask me about it in class for further discussion.
If we make students stay home to learn, we will create a culture of antisocial individuals who are glued to their technologies and not want or know how to interact with other individuals. Even observing teenagers at any given moment today....most are glued to their phones and do not know how to hold eye contact or truly carry a conversation in person. It frightens me to think what will happen if this pattern continues with more technological advancements.
ReplyDeleteI also could not agree more with "The key words there are people person, not robot person. I just think that heading down this road that is full of "mad technology" is the wrong one. " I like people and interacting with people. Technology is good in a sense, but there need to be limitations and I feel as if technology is advancing way too quickly to keep up with. I mean, just taking this Tech course in itself is making me aware of so many technologies out there that I had no idea about or know how to use...how much of a generation gap will we be creating because of technology?
I agree Kalyn, I think that flipping the classroom might be a good resource to use occasionally, rather than an end all be all. Also, as you commented on Marta's blog, if every class did this then students would be watch 5-7 videos a night, which is ludicrous.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with the Grantham article comments. That stuff is just too crazy. My brain starts to hurt just thinking about it.
Cheers