Blog 15: Convergent Education

I realize that there are definitely some changes that need to occur in the educational system. I have never thought about the changes being in the way this article explains in terms of convergent education. Going through school learning the way I did, I want to teach students a different way. In school, I read the textbooks chapter by chapter. I answered questions at the end of certain sections and took quizzes at the end of chapters. And finally I took an exam at the end of a chapter. Since coming to college, I am forced to use my mind in a different way. I am forced to think critically to search for solutions on my own. Particularly in my English classes, we do a lot of close reading with texts, which basically is looking for meaning within a text and evidence of that meaning. I must look through the book, and find what it means to me, with providing evidence. Now this is what I want to teach my students!

                In the article it expresses opinions about the read/test approach to teaching. It also states that if someone wants to look up some information, they can Google it! I never really thought about this before, but how true it is! Since students are now so overloaded with information, if they need to know something, it is very easy to go online and type some words in and find out what you want.

                The one thing that needs to be taught is sorting through the information that is viewed. Since there is so much information online, it is definitely important to teach students how to find credible information before they start to form opinions on a matter. This would be very good for any teacher to teach, especially when doing a research paper/project.

                Education needs to go into a direction where technology is being used. We are going to be teaching students skills for jobs that don’t exist yet, and they are going to incorporate technology in some way or another. So it would be detrimental for the education system to turn its back on the vast amount of ways to use technology to better our students.

-Korri M. Kraemer