IP Blog

The first point I chose from the Future of Learning Manifesto was #4: Got Passion? I’ll Tell You What To Care About. This particular point intrigued me because it is a unique philosophy on today’s education, and speaks out against conformity. McLeod begins by saying that he has the right to complain about certain classes if he has his own dream and is willing to “put his life on the line for it.” What McLeod is trying to say is that students should not be required to have passion for the subjects that they dislike if they have their own personal interests and are willing to develop them. Rather than forcing students to have passion for something that has little significance to them, students can make something of themselves and work towards receiving an education in an area that they are truly excited about. McLeod states that on the other hand, if we don’t create our own dreams and aspirations to be passionate about, we might as well go along with the accepted ‘norm’, obey the rules and regulations expected of us, and “take great notes” on the material fed to us. I agree with his idea that students should be allowed to think passionately and come up with their own ideas while being educated. I know that I would love to think creatively and focus my education on areas I am particularly interested in. However, I think that although students may not like it at the time, a broad source of knowledge is very important, even if it means learning about the things we do not like. Everyone’s interests fluctuate greatly throughout their life, and many high school students have no idea of what their interests will be in the future. I think a broad education is necessary because without it, a person may have to find a career in a field they enjoyed learning about a few years ago, but are no longer interested in.

McLeod also states sarcastically that that “he is young and may have a hard time with that ‘r-tickle-a-shun’ [articulation] thing. That’s your job.” What McLeod means here is that it is the educator’s job to provide the words, tools, examples, or in other words, a foundation of knowledge that we can work off of. After that, the educator should “get out of the way” and allow students to be creative and discover their own passions, goals, and ideas. He wants his audience to realize that one can ‘think outside the box’ and still receive a valuable education. McLeod extends his thoughts one step further by taking his idea into the future. He says that if his passion would go from a simple curiosity to becoming extremely out of control, then the educator needs to step in and take action to restrain him. He says that the educator would need to “stop giving him handouts and worksheets” and cleverly compares the educator’s role here to Jerry McGuire. McLeod means that in this situation, the educator needs to stop feeding information and encouraging the student’s actions, and instead act like Jerry McGuire. In the movie, Jerry McGuire speaks out against the conformity of his bosses and co-workers with a completely new way of thinking. Like Jerry McGuire, the educator would have to speak out against the student’s uncontrollable passion to restrain it, and find a new manner to develop it constructively. Again, I agree with his idea that we should be allowed to think creatively and learn about our passions; however, I think that educators need to have more control over students’ education thank McLeod suggests, or no progress would be made.

For my second point I chose #5: My Memory Is Only As Big As My Heart. Otherwise I’ll Stick with Google. Right from the start, the title compares his memory to the size of a heart, which is generally not very large. The title suggests that he can only remember so much, but why worry when there are easily accessed search engines such as Google. Again, this topic goes against the ‘norm’ that has been accepted and practiced since the beginning of education. In education, it is tradition for the educators to provide students with facts, and for the students to memorize them. The point that McLeod is trying to get across to his readers is why waste your time memorizing all of these facts, many of which will be completely useless in the long-run (unless you are, as he states “going on Jeopardy”), when you can receive the information with the click of a button. He compares search engines to a library, except much faster and much, much bigger. He also states that a disadvantage to the internet is that there is no librarian to help direct you towards the information you are seeking. However, this is not really needed considering that the internet doesn’t organize its information with methods like the Dewey Decimal System. McLeod is saying that with the technology our today’s society provides us with, the memorization of facts is not longer necessary. Although I agree that students are sometimes forced to memorize useless facts, I disagree that we should rely solely or even mainly on the internet for information. I personally believe that it is very important for students to develop their own base of knowledge. The students of today are the adults of our future, and I think that it is imperative for students to become informed, aware, and intelligent individuals through the education process.

McLeod continues to develop this idea and says that instead of the conventional, bland methods of teaching, educators should try to connect with their students while teaching, rather than feeding the students fact after fact. The educator should look towards a more emotional side of teaching so that kids can become involved. He says that teachers should encourage their students to think creatively and get in touch with themselves. If educators use unusual and emotionally stimulating methods of teaching, than their students will be much more enthralled in the subject matter. Students will become much more relaxed in the classroom, be much more eager and motivated to learn, and will be able to think creatively. This method ultimately will allow students to be themselves in the classroom and express themselves freely. I support this point because I agree that the methods used to teach often become very monotonous. However, in certain subjects, such as math and science, this may inevitable. Yet in other subjects, such as language arts and perhaps history, more interesting and unconventional methods could be used to teach. When learning by these unconventional techniques, McLeod suggests that a student’s education will be much more worthwhile. He concludes idea #5 by saying, “I’ll remember anything you tell me. Swear it.” I strongly agree with this point because if I were to be taught by unusual methods and forced to make emotional connections, it is very likely that once I left the classroom, I would remember and take with me everything that I had learned.