Hyperlearning In Lewis Perelman’s article, “School’s Out” (1993), he proposes that conventional academics be replaced with “hyperlearning”. Perelman describes hyperlearning as any new technologies that are connected and used to promote learning. One point that I am not quite sure about is whether he is suggesting that ALL schooling be changed to hyperlearning, or just higher learning. He makes a point in saying that the socializing factor of schools is not necessarily a positive one. However, oftentimes, the classes that a person learns the most in are not the 50-minute lectures, rather, they are the 50-minute discussion classes. How can you create a “just-in-time” discussion on the effects of a constructivist teaching style being implemented for the first time? I am not sure how some of the interactive learning will take place through hyper-media. As Perelman himself mentioned, there are several different learning styles. How will hyperlearning satisfy the multiple intelligences mapped out by Howard Gardner? It would seem like technology could assist in fostering the naturalist intelligence, but those students really learn best through hand-on experience with their environment, not by sitting in front of a computer regardless of how “real” the experience seems to be (Campbell, 1997). On the other hand, I do believe that Perelman has a point when he says that people are having to continually go back to school and complete a degree when all they may need is one missing skill set to be qualified for a job. I think the cost of academics is getting out of control and this is making it harder and harder to keep it a level playing field. Even when taking the cost out, grades are fairly arbitrary and merely a single indicator of one’s abilities. If a person is only missing a few skills to be qualified for a job, I agree that they should be able to acquire those skills and then show competence in them without having to go back to school and complete an entire degree. When it comes to the Clark (1994) and Kozma (1994) debate, I feel like my thoughts towards hyperlearning fall right in the middle. As Kozma contests, hyperlearning, thus media, will definitely change learning and if it is implemented effectively and the results could be tremendous. It would cut back on time sitting in classrooms listening to lecture after lecture and dive right into the actual learning. Furthermore, when it comes to higher learning or continued learning, one can target exactly what they need to know and not waste their time learning information they will never use. On the other hand, I agree with Clark that this is still only one form of a solution. I think it is very naive to think that everything that needs to be learned can be learned through technology. As Perelman himself says, most of what people learn is from experience. That is, actually DOING something, not working your way through a technology tutorial. Moreover, in my experience it is much easier to learn a program like Dreamweaver or PhotoShop from a person rather than from a “wizard” or “cue card” that is built into the program. In short, I do not see how hyperlearning can ever be the only method implemented in education reform. References: Campbell, B. (1997). The naturalist intelligence. Retrieved April 18, 2006, from New Horizons for Learning http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/mi/campbell.htm Clark, R. E. (1994). Media will never influence learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(2), 21-29. Kozma, R. B. (1994). Will media influence learning? Reframing the debate. Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(2), 7-19. Perelman, L. (1993). School’s out: The hyperlearning revolution will replace public education. Wired Magazine, 1(1), March/April. Retrieved April 17, 2006, from http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.01/hyperlearning.html.
21st-Century Skills & Assessment
Including 21st-Century Skills in a student’s curriculum could make a big difference in the education of many students, especially those who do not go on to pursue a higher degree. Teaching students how to think, create and collaborate is vital to their success later on, but how do we measure their progress in these subjective areas? How a student thinks, creates and works with other students would almost need to be based on where an individual starts and where he or she ends up. The assessment cannot be as regimented as a multiple-choice science test. Speaking of multiple-choice tests, is this really the way to know if a student has learned a piece of information rather than just memorized it? 21st-Century skills emphasize that a student will not just memorize, but use what they learn and apply it (Bond, L., 1995). Again, there are many ways to apply a single concept. Limiting students to one or two ways to apply a piece of information, as many rubrics do, is very stifling.
Last summer I graded the written part of state standardized tests in all subject areas. The rubrics we were given were very vague and this resulted in a grading system that seemed inconsistent. The rubrics always wanted me to look for one or two specific things but in some cases, like when I was grading an interpretation of a poem, this seemed to be detrimental to some students. If they had three main points, which was what was needed to receive the highest score, but one of them was not about the personification in the poem, then they were not given the highest score. In fact, if they only had two points but one was personification and both were really well developed, you could consider giving them the highest score. What was it about the personification that made it so much more important than the other aspects of the poem? Why did they all have to interpret the poem in exactly the same way? I think this is why I had always hated poetry. I was always asked to interpret what the author was saying but it was not up to me to interpret it, rather, it was up to me to figure out how others interpreted it.
One school that is making changes to the standard way of teaching and assessing is The King Center Charter School, in Buffalo, NY. This school caters to inner-city Buffalo students, many of whom are identified as being at risk– ninety-three percent of the students qualify for reduced or free lunch. It is a K-4 school with 105 students and each grade has a full-time teacher and assistant teacher. The school works with local colleges, museums and programs to offer the students unique opportunities. The board of the school works closely with teachers, students and parents to assure that all of the students’ needs are being met. There is a strong focus on each student’s social and emotional needs, as well as their personal academic needs. Social and emotional needs are monitored just as closely as learning needs. King’s School uses the most up-to-date technology to provide students with distance learning and hands-on learning opportunities, and there is a full-time technology coordinator to oversee the proper integration on technology into the curriculum. To remain open as a charter school, King’s School has to comply with state standards, meet a certain requirements on standardized tests and are evaluated intensely after three and five years. Even with their strong focus on all of these different needs of the students- social, emotional, hands-on opportunities etc., the school has significantly improved the test scores of the students from the first year they were open, 2002, to 2005 (Massey, C. P., Szente, P., & Stewart, C. A., 2005). This just goes to show that students can be successful on the current standardized tests and still have other needs met. When a school is able to focus on the student as an entire person, and meet the needs of the entire person, a student is likely to perform better academically and at the same time strengthen their 21st-Century Skills that are so necessary to develop. References: Bond, L. A. (1995). Critical issue: Rethinking assessment and its role in supporting educational reform. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Retrieved April 10, 2006, from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/assment/as700.htm. Massey, C. P., Szente, P., & Stewart, C. A. (2005). Creating a charter school to meet students’, teachers’ and parents’ needs. Childhood Education, 82, 1.
Technology and Diversity In Thomas C. Reeves article, “An Evaluator Looks at Cultural Diversity,” (1997), he emphasizes the fact that when developing programs for students to use in school, the software needs to be culturally sensitive to anyone who might use it. I thought it was poignant that he said that it is naïve of a person to think that they can detect cultural insensitivities on their own. I wonder if having a more diverse development team would be a starting point to help relieve some of this problem. I would not be very surprised if most developers currently have similar backgrounds. I thought the example of Johnny going home to meet his mom’s new boyfriend was interesting. I can definitely see how it could offend some people. I think it could offend some people in the US just as much as the people in China– I am sure you will find many people in the US who stress the importance of the traditional family. At the same time, you will also find many people in the US who have never experienced a traditional family. What would be the right answer to this? Should the question have two options? Should the topic be avoided altogether? I feel like there are always going to be some fundamental life situations that either are going to offend someone or someone will not be able to relate to it. Maybe the questions need to be broader and allow students to express their own situations without have to specifically suggest what they are. On the other hand, would it be useful to introduce the different situations to the students to make them aware of other cultures? I do not know. In depth multicultural research and consultation are obviously extremely important when it comes to developing technology for schools. Next to that, perhaps the most important factor is to make sure that questions do not inadvertently put down other insult other cultures. Moreover, if there is a controversial question or situation introduced, the teacher should take the time to address it with his or her students (Banks, J. A. & McGee Banks, C. A., 2005). References: Banks, J. A., McGee Banks, C. A. (Eds.) (2005). Multicultural education: Issues and perspectives. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reeves, T. C. (1997). An evaluator looks at cultural diversity. Educational Technology, 37(2), 27-31.
