Mr. Crosby is an elementary school teacher who teaches to at risk children. Many of the children in his classroom do not know basic information such as: what city they live in, what country they live in, or even their home address. However, with Mr. Crosby's help not only will they learn that information, but they will be exposed to teaching and learning like they have never seen. In Mr. Crosby's classroom he has a laptop per student and they use it for almost all of their activities. Not only do his students use laptops, but they each have their own blog (sound familiar?). They conduct science experiments in the classroom and then conduct their own. After they have conducted their experiment and videoed it, they must then write about the experiment. So just in this one assignment alone, these students are learning science and language arts without even cracking a book. Mr. Crosby wants to take these kids who are "in the box" thinkers and take them out of that box.
One of the coolest experiments that Mr. Crosby spoke about, is when the students, with the help of local college students, sent a balloon to outer space. They attached a camera to the balloon and were able to get some amazing pictures of the earth from outer space. After the balloon returned to earth, Mr. Crosby had his students write a story as if they were the balloon. Here, he hits on language arts again. They were also able to make a wiki page about the balloon and design trading cards with the images from its journey. Along with the balloon, students were told to make high hope notes. These were notes about what they hoped they could accomplish in the future, and what they hoped the world would be like in the future. Through the use of their blog, the students were able to get other peoples high hopes from around the world as well. Everyone's high hopes were sent up with the balloon, which I think is a really awesome idea. Just from this one experiment, Mr. Crosby's students were able do many activities that were encouraging them to learn without making them even realize it. You know, it's amazing how fun learning can be when you can actually interact with what you are studying.
My dad always says that the best way to learn something is to do it, not just read about it. You can read all you want about changing oil in a vehicle, but until you get under it and make a few mistakes, you will never truly learn how to change oil properly. Mr. Crosby has made his learning hands on and I'm sure his students appreciate him for it. They may not conduct an experiment perfect the first time, but that is what learning is about. He doesn't believe a kid should be taught, but rather, they should be empowered to learn. Welcome to 21st century learning, kids. Now, go and learn!
A Vision of Students Today
This is one of many videos made by Michael Wesch. In this video, he shows that in a classroom today, class sizes are too large and outdated. Universities, for the most part, teach students in the same manner that they have been teaching for the last 200 years. It shows that many of the students who bring computers to class are not even using it for educational purposes while in the classroom. Rather, students are searching Facebook or some other social networking site instead of paying attention. Another point that was brought forth was that many students pay for expensive books but never even have to crack them. That may be because the teacher likes for the students just to take notes, or because the student feels it is unnecessary to read for the class. Either way, whether its the student's prerogative or the teacher's not to use the book, it is a complete waste of money.
I can very much relate to the students point of view. We are in the 21st century, yet education is still in the 19th century. I'm not saying that students do not learn anymore, because we do. If the professors and teachers at universities really want to run an excellent university, then get rid of this old teaching style. Bring technology into the classroom and stop being so afraid of it. If students had interactive lessons on their laptops that can be used in class, then maybe the students would be more interested in learning. As Mr. Crosby said in the earlier video, teachers teach kids how to be taught in this old way of teaching. Instead of teaching kids how to be taught, teachers should empower kids to learn. In other words, teachers need to adapt to the students and get on their level and really interact with the students. This might sound like a childish type of teaching, but it is the best form of teaching. Would you rather read a book on how to change oil in a vehicle, or learn by actually getting under the car and changing that oil?
I feel that universities are terrified of technology in the classroom. Lecture halls can seat up to 200 people and that is perfectly fine with the administration. Class sizes need to be smaller if universities really want to make sure that their education really "hits home." In a lecture hall, students are being taught "burp-back" information and will leave that hall really learning nothing. It is time for universities to flip the classroom and make the students empowered to learn.
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