Edutainment
Young Victorian of the Year 2009 Thom Woodroofe insists that schools must take "education to where the students are" by embracing "iPod & iPhone technology in the classroom" because traditional education is... Oh My God!... "boring".
Yes, only by making education interesting and entertaining will students be properly prepared for the always wonderfully interesting and entertaining world of work.
Idiot.
Yes, only by making education interesting and entertaining will students be properly prepared for the always wonderfully interesting and entertaining world of work.
Idiot.
posted by Anonymous at 3:21 PM |
2 Comments:
Hiya Jeff,
actually, this guy has dome good points.
And he did not say that education should revolve around the iPod and iPhone, but that it be embedded in the educational evironemnt of textbooks, teaching etc.
If a teaching session includes students having to listen to music to illustrate a point, or learn about, there is nothing wrong with getting everyone to use their iPod, if everyone has one.
these little gadgets faciliate some administrative shortcuts here and there and can be surprisingly useful. It certainly does not mean that facts, knowledge, logical argument, good writing etc go by the wayside. These are the fundamentals.
The creative side, often involving music, art, talking, movement, groups etc often enhance - actually, research shows they do enhance and often act a sa good base on which to build the articulation of concepts verbally or via the written word.
This particular essay may come across as trivial, but a recent education writer showed how kids using the computer in groups could learn subjects in greater depth and faster than in the usual classroom setup. However, they still were given guidance by the teacher (as to what they were to research) and were able to discuss it with their educators etc.
I think one of thje problems is with your implied definition of the words 'fun" or "interesting".
As I had cause to point out to an employer awhile ago (not mine!), not all people get off on hysteria or balloons in the classroom, not all people define "fun" as screeching hyena cackles at top volume and vomiting on each other.
"Entertaining" can mean interesting, engaging, even at the chalk and talk level. Most of the lecturers and teachers I've had for instance, were netertainig and informative and good teachers, and they had nothing more than books, papers and good teaching skills at their disposal.
Had we had computers we could have looked up a lot of references online - as it is, we used the library. Now I use Google, and buy my reference books.
But they knew their subject, they knew how to explain well and they understood how to break down a subject and make it sufficiently challenging without rendering it incomprehensible.
Now you see, the disparagement you've put on this guy has taken away from that you heap on that deserving liar Loewenstein. that's a pity. ;)
Interesting to read your feedback. Shame it didn't have more substance.
Found it ironic you call me an 'idiot' and then wrote a piece called 'Can't argue your case? Go for name-calling'.
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