It seems that the biggest impact of IDT has been in the business sector which makes sense to me. In business or industry the bottom line is profit. The stakes are high especially for the stockholders. Although education is of the utmost importance there really isn't a driving force or a way to enforce certain aspects of education. What I mean is that money is more concrete whereas education is harder to measure.
As far as I can see IDT has had very little impact on both P-12 or higher education. P-12 needs a major overhaul so I think ID is not at the center of attention for most school districts. Once schools start to change (transform) then ID may come to the forefront.
I see higher education utilizing IDT significantly more than P-12 because of profitability. Universities have to stay viable which means they have to make money much like corporations. I found this chapter very interesting because the authors implied the professors only knew the subject matter and NOT how to teach. I will have to admit most of my science professors just lectured and because of that I found myself imitating them especially my favorites in my high school classes. Science is pretty lecture orientated anyway because of all the concepts.
During my education way back when we had a few classes on how to develop lesson plans but it would have been nice actually to have an instructional designer produce my lessons!
I don't think my current professional working environment could learn from P-12 or higher ed. but certainly from business context because I work for a hospital.
39 minutes ago
Kathy,
ReplyDeleteI am not certain about budget contraints in your state but in Japan, more of the education system is shifting towards privatization. This has made school more business oriented where profit has become the bottom line. To attract more students schools must have the newest facilities and equipments. Since I work in an international school, I am really not complaining because it has given me more opportunities to learn new technology and use them in class.
Kathy,
ReplyDeleteThere is a major difference between business (& higher ed) and P-12. Business is for profit so 'top of the line' technology is utilized right away to attempt to bring in the most business possible. (Forget that the technology of yesterday is often discarded in a month for the NEXT newest technology). Schools do not have an unlimited amount of money and what is most important and essential is NOT technology.
From your various posts, it seems like you feel that P-12 education is really hurting BECAUSE of the lack of technology. I don't think that is true AT ALL. Technology (or lack of) will NOT make or break the education of P-12 students. As you noticed, effective teaching is much more important. Educators have been teaching for hundreds of years without the newest technology. -Suzy
Suzy,
ReplyDeleteI agree but so they have been teaching but are they effective? Why is the US so far behind in Science and Math? I still think we are way behind because of not utilizing technology in a relevant way. Look at Yasue's school in Japan-they have the best of everything even at the 1st grade level! I don't necessarily think it is about technology but more about teacher accountability. Teachers have to be held accountable to student learning and unions should be gone because they only protect the lousy teachers who do not belong in the classroom! :) KathyW