I found the article below, written by Will Oremus for Slate.com, a fascinating look behind what may be the future of education:
As a father whose children are finishing up High School and in College, respectively, I’ve been amazed at the differences between their education and mine. At the High School Parent/Teacher meet up this year, everything from the classroom design -including some truly comfortable new seats!- was a revelation.
But what continues to amaze me is how few textbooks these students need. In this particular school they use Google laptops and all lessons/homework flows through there. Some teachers, we found, quickly adapted to this new system while others are less inclined to do so yet I couldn’t help but marvel at how the computer and internet have again wormed their way into another aspect of our lives.
For the better, I feel.
However, just because something is new and shiny doesn’t mean it works perfectly out of the gate, and Mr. Oremus’ article goes very deep into the pros and cons of these new systems.
Perhaps the biggest “pro” is the fact that we can have classrooms where students are learning at their own pace, each receiving work that fits in with their individual needs and speed at learning.
But the negatives have to be considered as well and Mr. Oremus gives readers a robust look at the negatives as well as positives regarding the direction of our education system in the age of the computer.