In a question-and-answer feature on its web site, PBS NewsHour addresses this question from a viewer: “As a nation of technology, why do public schools continue to eliminate technology education programs? Doesn’t this curriculum … lead to more high-knowledge, high-skills jobs?” John Merrow, author of the book Below C Level: Why It Pays to be Average in Public Education (and what WE can do about it), responds: “For me, the issue is not so much technology education per se, but the embrace of modern technology’s possibilities. Today, too many students have to ‘power down’ when they get to school, because public education is stuck in a rut. Schools should be using the various technologies to break down the physical walls of school to connect students around the country and the world; instead, they use technology to control.” He continues: “If one looks deeper, it’s not simply schools’ failure to embrace modern technology’s potential; it’s also the institutional failure to embrace project-based learning (and challenge-based learning). We adults work together because it’s effective and efficient and far more rewarding. That’s called collaboration. In schools, however, collaboration is called cheating…”
- ‘Buyer’s remorse’ dogging Common Core rollout - October 30, 2014
- Calif. law targets social media monitoring of students - October 2, 2014
- Elementary world language instruction - September 25, 2014
