Ideas

Ideas

We are making the cause for continuing education technology. Feel free to add your thoughts on how we can best make our point.

In the halls of advanced academe, a battle brews over the philosophical foundation of rigor versus relevance. In the K-12 classroom we are so busy teaching to standardized tests that we seldom have time to think about it! Rigor will certainly force students to master content and work toward perfecting skill levels. But without a glimmer of relevance, retention becomes a null set! So how does our content become relevant? It is my opinion that more answers can be found outside the walls of our own classroom than inside. Skills and content are not always exclusive, and the larger lessons learned are usually the most important lessons. Relevance can be elusive, but when it is found, a new world of thinking and synthesis is at the students' doorstep! --- Rick A

Students need time to use the resources at their fingertips. Without time to explore resources, even the collections of the greatest libraries in the world are rendered meaningless. Time is a mandatory requirement needed for the transfer of knowledge. Preparation for standardized testing is the thief of education. This is an interesting paradox because standardized testing is meant to be a systems quality check. This erosion of instructional time is truly devastating and should be brought to the fore.

Formula for tech success --
Web 2.0 + 1 Caring Educator / among many students = a more interesting and engaging classroom