Semester Reflection

My mind has been opened to the possibilities of educational technologies.  First and foremost, I have faith in the minds of Millennials.  They will be the ones to solve many of the world's problems.  On the other hand, previous generations, specifically Baby Boomers, are in the way.  They know the least about this world and they are the ones running shit.  I have to use terse language because it best describes my frustration with education and the society writ large.  Life is easier in 2015 than it has ever been.  Technology seems to be outpacing the ability of thinkers to come up with bigger broader issues.  I attribute a lot of that to intellectual regurgitation and still teaching concepts that have long since been automated.  Our children are being taught to irrelevance.  Based on observation rounds of young learners, I see their mastery of contemporary society.  The utility of handheld devices and their ability to come up with solutions to the simple questions that they have.  I am inferring and projecting that one of those young learners will have a large broad question on something important such as the global economy or the cure for cancer and will use education technology, which is prior knowledge, to create new advances in society.  A wealth of knowledge is at the fingertips of young students and their intellectual curiousities will continue to spur innovation.

As a leader in education, I am also acutely aware of the inability of leaders to adequately implement educational technology in the classroom.  I wonder if these are inherent errors in a top down bureaucratic approach or that leaders simply don't understand the world they live in (as I presume their students to be able to).  

Pappert's ideas are near and dear to my philosophy on leading a higher education institution.  Constructionism is key to reform.  Leaders must be assess how their learner's think and be able to channel and develop that into higher analytical thinking.  

This course has allowed me to question and envision what the class of the future will look like.  Frankly, I have questioned the relevance of the modern day school.  My children will have a different formative education going forward.  Mastery of the technology is more important than the regimentation of outdated thinking.