Comments on Turbulence Ahead: Smarter Schools

@ Piaras Agreed about teaching methods, though th...

2009-11-21T09:06:30.362Z

@ Piaras

Agreed about teaching methods, though there are dangers of going too far the other way and failing to provide children with the 'basics'.

@ Hugh

Agreed - you can't be creative if you haven't mastered the tools you need to use (3 'R's and all that): and technology is only part of that.

It's all very well talking about ebooks Ger, b...

2009-11-18T22:24:35.844Z

It's all very well talking about ebooks Ger, but surely you recognise Cowen and O'Keefe's gimmick with the computers for what it is? What on earth is the use of handing out these playthings to kids in a country that the OECD has already condemned for its abysmal levels of literacy? According to them, 25% of Irish students leave school "functionally illiterate"! What use is an ebook when nobody's bothering to teach them how to read a real book?!

Feedback from universities is that e-books aren...

2009-11-18T19:59:04.466Z

Feedback from universities is that e-books aren't necessarily the answer: http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/09/29/0133221/In-Trial-Kindles-Disappointing-University-Users?from=rss

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33298480/

Realistically giving everyone a pen doesn't make people a great writer

We have to put added emphasis on changing the way we learn in schools. This is happening in some areas and it's important that initiatives like Project Maths get the support they deserve.

Ultimately though we have to move from rote learning to collaborative learning. As Henry Jenkins says in the video below - "Most education is about the person who can learn by themselves and know everything. Most forms of collaboration in the classroom are cheating, whereas in the real world we collaborate all the time…And that’s the world we have to prepare students for"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmUQKStba10&feature=player_embedded