IP Blog

Technology is rapidly advancing second by second as we speak. We are extremely advanced as a society, but one can take notice that learning in schools does not seem to portrait the technology available to the students to learn with. Students like me are still using the old fashion pencil and paper to take notes and study with when this method was invented ever since language was a part of human life. The most profound problem that presents itself with this situation is that after students graduate from college they are bombarded with computers, PDA’s, laptops, and every kind of technology there is without a dexterous understanding of these types of devices. The reason is because they are not taught or introduced to it in the school environment as well as they should be. China utilizes technology in their schools, and they are producing a great deal more than America and are believed to be the powerhouse nation as of today. The tools are there, but they must be utilized in our schools to act as a catalyst to students’ learning abilities.

School 2.0 is a new brainstorming tool designed to help schools, districts and communities develop a common education vision for the future and to explore how that vision can be supported by technology. School 2.0 is purposely a sketch and a work in progress. It is designed to facilitate community discussions and preparations for short and long term educational and management goals. This project allows you to order your own School 2.0 map to allow students or anyone to brainstorm their ideas for a more advanced school. I believe this idea is ingenious because of the capabilities it can generate. Many students, including myself, enjoy learning, but with the ability for a student to engage in positive feedback and input can bolster a class rather quickly. Think about it. A student has the ability to contribute ideas a teacher cannot think of all alone. Because students usually know a decent amount about technology because of home computers and parents, they can derive unique and successful ideas about how to learn in a classroom environment. It could be reviewed by the school board and community, and eventually could be used all around the school with great results.

Learning Technology is a great website that provides examples of the infinite uses of technology in the classroom. If a student comes out of a high school with a high tech education, colleges, jobs, and other opportunities are more abundant in choice. Colleges will love that you have the ability to maneuver with technology. I would enjoy an opportunity like that greatly. Also, employers would be fighting over you if you had a great experience in technology, and with that higher stature and monetary benefits are profuse. So many opportunities present themselves with the competence of technology. That is why I strongly believe it is so important to stress technology at an early age where it can blossom into something extraordinary.  The School 2.0 map shows a consummate plan of what a highly technical school would look like.

Finally, what would my School 2.0 look like? A highly technical school with tremendous yields. Every classroom would be equipped with a wireless network, a chalkboard sized message board, digital clocks, printers, fax machines, recliners, and a vending machine. Each student would have a laptop, PDA, and cell phone all with Wi-Fi and network access. The teacher would be able to sit at their computer and email all the students with the material to be taught. Students could read over it on their laptops, and the teacher could then expand on the material with the student’s having the ability to type notes right on to the word document the teacher sent them. The message boards could provide a quick way for news around the school to be sent. Instead of a voice over the intercom where children cannot hear, the news pops up on the message board and everyone can read it anytime they want. Vending machines provide children with food to be comfortable and also the recliners. With comfort and the ability to learn anything with the click of a button students could progress in an instant. Society would emerge with great heights. At first looking at blogging, I thought it was a joke, but now that I have done one and wrote about something I now better understand, I can envision a society with this technology with the sky as the limit.

The bottom line, School should be as highly advanced as it possibly can be. Some may think it is not realistic, but it is because it already has been seen. The more technical your school is the better yield there will be.