MAS 713
Learning Environments
Assignment #1
Victor Viteri
Will there be schools in twenty years and if so, what should they be like?
In order to provide an answer to the first part of the question; imagine a scenario where
there aren’t schools. It should be clarified that the word school is used to refer to the
physical place where individuals congregate to collectively undertake academic activities.
The first uncertainty that arises when considering this scenario is, what would then be
the process by which people get educated? It is likely that advancements in pedagogy,
media and information technology, and computer science would allow the development
of engaging educational environments capable of delivering customized information and
individually tutoring and assessing a student. It would, then be quite simple to develop
programs of study centered about knowledge clusters and to prescribe guidelines on
how an individual should “visit” these learning environments in order to get a “complete”
education and get accredited accordingly. In addition to doing away with schools, this
system would have the added advantage of allowing students advance at their own
pace.
To most people this scenario should appear unrealistic and dissonant even if we are
predicting it to occur twenty years from today. The problem is not in the technological
possibilities.
The problem is in the isolation in which this educational process is
proposed to take place. While growing up and into early adulthood, a substantial portion
of our days is invested in scholastic endeavors.
Therefore, eliminating the physical
school would also mean that the opportunities for social interaction would be
substantially diminished, particularly in the case children for whom the school is the only
social environment outside their homes they know.
It can be argued that it is possible and in some instances ideal to transmit knowledge in
a somewhat isolated manner. However, in order to provide a framework to the learning
process, people need to get references and feedback. People specially children; need to
confirm their accomplishments and aspirations. These processes can only take place
within the context of a social fabric. Additionally, since children are rapidly exposed to
changes and often are not explicit about their needs, this supporting fabric has to be
immediately available to them.
Furthermore educational processes get stimulus and
are greatly enriched by social interaction.
In fact there are instances where these
interactions are absolutely necessary to learning such as in mentor apprentice
relationships. It should also be considered that in the absence of stronger social
structures, schools have become the stage where growing individuals affirm and in some
cases attain their ethical principles. Since a complete education must include learning
social responsibility, the elimination of school would probably handicap more than
enhance the academic process. Finally, individuals often find that socially based
extracurricular activities such as organized sports and clubs are as important to personal
development as formal education.
There are other issues, practical in nature, to which the no-school scenario would have
to respond. For instance, who is going to supervise and care for children during the
day? Where are teachers going to go? So while the previous discussion argue strongly
against the elimination of the school, it is the presence of these practical inconveniences
that makes this scenario totally unfeasible.
In twenty years and in view of the rapid the changes brought about by emerging
technology and social globalization, schools should evolve into substantially different
entities from what they are now.
Changes should occur in the way schools are
organized and assemble their students. Schools should also change the content of their
curricula and their pedagogical strategies.
Academic entities are organized in well-defined hierarchies where the upper echelons set
the demands on the lower levels.
ultimately defines what is instructed.
At the highest level is the job market, which
In recent years, job duties have shifted from
mostly process-oriented tasks to analytical and creative activities. These activities
require independent critical-thinking, and a capacity to understand and synthesize
concepts. These skills are best relayed through processes of guided exploration and
intense levels of tutoring.
Schools, however, are ill structured to respond to these
demands.
Student segregation and lecturing to large groups of students are ideally
suited to teach memorization and routine procedures. As a result, the school framework
will have to change.
To accommodate the necessary changes, schools should turn to media based learning
environments for content delivery and invest teacher’s time in providing students with
tutoring and feedback.
By minimizing the need to teach pupils collectively, schools
would also eliminate the practical need to segregate students.
Schools could then
assemble in studios where students of different age groups and ability levels would
explore ideas in workshop-type environments. Depending on the topic and area of
study, these workshops would engage students in team or individual multidisciplinary
projects. Teams would incorporate students of different levels and areas of interest.
Projects would chosen for their social and scientific relevance and should produce a
tangible result.
For instance, students could build objects, develop a script and/or
perform a play. Longer lasting projects could address issues and/or analyze facts, and
make them explicit through a student newsletter; the possibilities are endless.
Students would be assessed according to their individual progress and on how they
meet the project requirements. Most importantly, however, pupils would have to stage
their work. At the lower levels, these presentations would be more like show-and-tell
while on higher level projects, presentations would consist of open forum critiques or
performances.
Although students would be primarily guided by a project-teacher, the studio
environment would allow teams and individuals to get advice from other faculty and
fellow students. In fact, as a requirement, upperclassmen should at some point formally
tutor other students. Media based tools would be the primary sources of information,
teachers, however, would still have to lecture on critical and specific areas. To provide a
framework to an otherwise flexible school day, these lectures and/or seminars would be
scheduled at well spaced but predetermined time intervals.
A final issue to consider is how to bring about the changes that would be needed to
turn our present school systems into educational workshops. I believe that technology
is the key and that it has already triggered a supply driven evolutionary process. This
process is imperceptible since it is characterized by the adoption of small incremental
innovations, such as the implementation of computers in classrooms. As the adoption
rate increases, evolution will turn into a demand driven process. This change will result
in a second generation of innovations that will bring the schools closer to the ideal state.
For innovations to diffuse, it is absolutely necessary that seamless transitions occur
when adopting new technologies.
For instance, teachers should not have to be
retrained every time a new learning environment is adopted. As technology progresses
new environments should do more and require less from the end users. As a result,
specialized research will play an external but very significant role in the transformation
of schools.
Summary
In the year 2021 children, adolescents and young adults will still go to a place called
school. There will still be football, cheerleading, prom and graduations. Teachers will
still be teachers and academic pressures and competition will still be part of growing up.
There will be preppies and jocks.
Dropouts, however, will have become scarce.
Workshop based education will have a place for everyone and most people will enjoy
learning.
Physically the school will also look different. Workshop room would be provided with
plenty of learning toys such as computer simulators, tools and didactic widgets. The
most noticeable aspect, however, will be the absence of bolted down chairs
This radical change will not occur at the stroke of a pen; it will be a gradual process.
Technology, particularly media and computer sciences will play a significant role in this
change.