On the Internet
EDU150
Jared T. Byrd
February 25, 2010
The example given in the text of the failure to adapt Dvorak is really a great meter by which to measure the introduction of new technology. If any given technological advancement does not produce a significant enough impact to counteract the waste of investment in previous technologies, it will likely not be adapted. What we have to look for are things that will pay off soon, or will continue to pay off in the long run and can be convincingly adapted by todays administration. That's really where the problem lies, not in the children, who are always looking forward to novel things, but in convincing the administration that adapting a particular technology will benefit the bottom line, hopefully in this fiscal quarter.
Each new generation offers a new option to phase out old ways and adapt new. Getting the Financial Officer to agree to an overhaul, and the risk it entails, is the real trick. Unfortunately, this conservativism is one of the reasons non-traditional schools are becoming such a threat to continued classical public education. A new radical idea, embraced wholly, not only competes with, but often excells past education institutions bogged down with tradition and outdated investments.
The mention the text made of the role of educator changing from a collector to a guide is one I find positive. There is so much available at our fingertips now, I am almost confident I could perform surgery should I need to and had an active internet connection handy. The fear of the threat of inappropriate material and exposing students to it is one of the greatest hurdles, however. The vast majority of what can be found on the internet can be harmful to a developing mind, and not neccessarilly good for an adult one either. Prudent care really is the only answer, and even that won't be perfect. With access growing, and the ever-curious mind of the child searching, mis-steps are inevitable.