teaching and learning

I’m not one who argues for the abandonment of schools, or that technology will make some physical meetings of teachers and students obsolete. I’ve always described technology as enhancing existing interactions and while there’s no doubt that the existing configurations could be considerably improved I’ve always argued that schools provide social benefits beyond the academic. It’s the same with home schooling, which lets too much go at the expense of the interactions likely to lead to future happiness and succcess.

Still, it’s not surprising to see that people who are home-schooling (55,000 British children according to this article) using technology to connect, enrolling in online schools like Internet High or creating virtual communities in Second Life. What is surprising perhaps is that some are seeing these online alternatives as superior to the old bricks and mortar environments.

This article, from the Independent says:

One of the more revolutionary methods is being explored by Dr Peter Twining,
head of the Open University’s Department of Education, who is examining the
possibilities of virtual environments as an alternative to the traditional
constraints of “buildings, subjects, classrooms, 30 kids and a teacher”
. According to Twining, a chasm has emerged between what is being taught in
schools (science, IT, geography, etc), and what pupils are experiencing in
their daily lives (Facebook, music downloads, social networking). He
believes using virtual environments could, “create a system that meets
the changing needs of 21st-century society”.

Twinings’ latest research project, Schome, is an “education system
for the digital age”. It brings 150 students of varying ages, to a
closed island in the virtual world, Second Life, and allows them to
build their own physical Es (or teachers). Instead of
teaching and assessing students to pass exams in “hard” subjects, such
as maths and physics, Schome teaches skills such as leadership,
collaboration and communication, by solving “real” problems in their
virtual world.

You can read the full article HERE, or enrol at InternetHigh HERE

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