I think in the past education has been based on this notion of scarcity that some people could succeed and others would have to fail, that there wouldn’t be enough seats for everyone, everyone can’t go to Harvard, or MIT. But now because of the existing technology everyone can go to Harvard or MIT. Everyone can have the range of experiences at a level of depth and sophistication that I described and the way we get there is by sort of checking our arrogance at the door and letting go of some of our assumptions. We don’t need to have schools that create winners and losers, we don’t have to grade and rank and sort and label kids the way we do. We can create environments where kids want to be and, in fact that’s the only future that’s viable for schools because there’s going to be all sorts of competing interests. Maybe school is the place with the great orchestras and the pottery kilns and the electron microscopes and the teachers who can inspire kids about the world, engage them in fabulous, rich, boisterous debates, and lead science experiments and conduct musical performances and players and dance recitals. And I think that if you think of school as a technology in and of itself, this sort of box with chairs and desks and people in it, then what we’re going to need to think about in the future is the best way to maximize the affordances of that technology and again it might be the place where we gain benefit from being together for a period of time. I don’t want my kids to come to school and be told open your book and read chapter 14 any more than I want them to be told open your laptop and read this web page. That’s a waste of time and resources, that they could have been reading that somewhere else on their own time or in some other context. The best hope that I have for school is that school becomes the place where we do the things that parents are proudest of that kids feel the most excited about and where they want to spend their time.

When pigs fly: Gary Stager’s technology plan for America’s schools.(Speaking Out): An article from: District Administration ~ Gary Stager

Opus one: critics of computers in education often argue the investment in technology detracts from the arts. This does not need to be the case. Increasingly … An article from: District Administration ~ Gary Stager

Knot in my class! Alarmists would like you to believe that crayons and mud pies are developmentally appropriate. KidPix is not. (Speaking Out).: An article from: District Administration ~ Gary Stager

Stager.org

Stager-To-Go Blog

IMPORTANT:  Use of clips confirms that you understand and accept the Terms of Service.