BP3_2009101_Anti-Teaching

Many teachers and school districts struggle to find the magic formula for teaching students. It’s a never ending battle over what kids need, why they need it, when they should receive it and how they should demonstrate the education that they have received. I use the term receive instead of learned, because I feel that testing does not give a full view of their learning, rather a regurgitation of the information that they’ve received in the classroom. In Anti-Teaching, written by Michael Wesch, his position is that, “…for many (students and teachers alike) education has become a relatively meaningless game of grades rather than an important and meaningful exploration of the world in which we live and co-create” (n.d).

This game of grades and struggle to find a magic formula for teaching is becoming more complex. Not only are teachers using textbooks and videos, there is now a wealth of technological advances that can be used in the classroom. Although I do not believe that textbooks and “old school” materials should be left behind, I just believe that they need to be used in a different way to teach information to students. Wesch (n.d.) continues throughout his article describing how teachers need to change from conveying information to having students find the information and for them to convey the information back to the teacher. He proposes that teachers should be more like “managers” of the classroom. He says, “The emphasis is on “managing” this environment rather than simply conveying information,” (n.d.). This gives the students more responsibility to their education and what they take from it.

When schools use technology and give the responsibility back to the students for their education, I believe they will produce well-rounded students that will be more prepared for life’s challenges. These schools should be incorporating Web 2.0 tools and Personal Learning Environments (PLEs). Web 2.0 tools are applications on the web that allow students to complete certain tasks and to collaborate with others virtually. This increases a student’s ability to collaborate with others and produce better quality, as well as more meaningful projects, to convey what they have learned. A PLE is described as, “the tools, communities, and services that constitute the individual educational platforms learners use to direct their own learning and pursue educational goals,” (Educause, 2009). In other words, a PLE takes all the web 2.0 tools and sources of information on the Web and lists them in one convenient place on the Web – a website organized by the student, for the student’s needs. These environments encourage the transformation that teachers need to make, in order to be the “managers” of the classroom that Wesch describes in his article. Educause expands on this idea by stating, “In this regard, teaching is less a matter of data transmission and more a collaborative exercise in collection, orchestration, remixing, and integration of data into knowledge building.” (2009).

I know that I would have benefited from a more individualized, self-directed learning style when I was in school – especially in high school. In this bog I’ve included a podcast that I completed in Month 2 of my graduate program, that describes my educational experiences. I know that there are other students that felt the same way I did while going through the educational system, and those feelings alone are grounds for a change in the educational process. Enjoy the video!