Friday, September 11, 2009

Schools of the Future?

What patterns did you notice within the Schools of the Future Project presentations? Did these ideas exhibit an understanding and application of extrapolation as a concept? Did any ideas spark your interest? Did the presentations challenge viewers to think beyond the rudimentary elements of schools as we know them today? Reflect, comment, and react. Please complete blog post in class on September 11, 2009.

26 comments:

  1. the views of the future were almost the same in a way because they all had "no teachers" or another form of learning such as the learning helmet that u place on your head during the night so you will not have to go to school and you'll learn everything in your sleep. So that way kids could start looking at their career more and actually study more about it and do better for the world itself.

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  2. Most projects, though it is doubtful groups copied one another, all had the same general ideas. Nearly everyone said teachers would be eliminated, as would paper and books, and required courses. But to truly exhibit extrapolation we need to consider how fast technology can progress and how far it will go in forty years. Though it is likely that one day schools will have no teachers, it is doubtful that it will happen within forty years. Technology will not yet be ready for such an educational burden, let alone flying desks. One realistic expectation is that dress code rules will change. It has been a steady progression through educational history that school has become more and more casual, and girls skirts will continue to shorten.

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  3. I noticed that there were not going to be any real teachers during this new school age. It was going to be at home or in a hologram or a helmet that you put on when you sleep. I thought that it would be cool not to go to school and just learn while you sleep. This would take away all the challenges of getting up early and listening to teachers, who you don't like, talk all day. I think that all of the presentations were good and all had something to offer that might actually become a reality.

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  4. I noticed that a lot of the presentations mentioned something about a lack of teachers, and many talked about students being able to choose what they do and do not study. I think that not having teachers could be good for some people, and bad for others. Some people learn better by listening and by asking questions, others can learn just as efficiently by just reading the same information. I really liked the idea that students have a choice in what they study. I think that would make school much more efficient and productive, because people would actually enjoy what they were learning. I don't know how realistic that idea is though, at least for middle school and early high school. I think that we have to learn the basics of everything first, so that we can make the right choices and decisions about our education.

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  5. I saw a lot of present technology that is just improved for a more personal setting. There were personal smart boards, and a "hover plate" that you could use. These are real ideas and possibilities for the future schools. It cuts back on paper and ink, virtually eliminating the need for everyday items we use today. There was also a lot of no teacher ideas. Some just eliminated them entirely and adding holograms or online teachers. Then there were two groups that did not even have a future school, just a helmet type deal that attached to you head while you sleep and put th info directly into the brain. These are some good ideas are definite a possibilities in the future.

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  6. Most of the presentations seemed to involved a lack of teachers and useage of paper. I must say I have to disagree. I don't think we're any where near an age where we will have no teachers. There's too much involved in the teacher-student relationship. A hollogram can't write a letter of recommendation, or give you an exstention because it understands how you're involved in several school activities. There also appeared to be a lot of emphasis on career specialization. I think it will probably end up that way, but it's for the worse. I know you're going to be a math major, but you still need to learn how to communicate your ideas effectively. Everyone should have to take a basic accounting class, personal finance, writing, etc classes that will give one basic, needed skills for living alone. I think schools need to move toward providing its students with knowledge about the real world, instead of just factual knowledge.

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  7. I noticed that a lot of people suggested for there to be no books and for everything to be done on computers. In my opinion using computers has already become a huge necessity for school work. Most classrooms even have their own set to use every day. I liked the idea that there would be a homework period as the last class of the school day so that not all homework has to be completed at home. I do think that this project challenged viewers to think beyond school as we know it today and it also challenged the people creating the presentation. It was very hard to think about what kind of technology there will be in schools fourty years from now. Some groups even suggested logging in to touch screen desks by finger print. That amazes me because the more I think about it the more I realize that it is a possibility.

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  8. The patterns I saw in the future schools project were that most of the groups thought that there would be no teachers ans that classes would be all touch screens or there would be no school but just computers that download everything into your brain. I thought that the thing that made me think was the downloading because that would be so cool to just learn everything just by pugging something into your head.But all of the projects made me think if that could be done someday.

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  9. A commonality I saw between most of the presentations was the elimination of tangible school supplies. Many groups adopted the idea of getting rid of paper and pencils and replacing it with a floating Smart board. All of the ideas showed good extrapolations of what school may look like in 2049. The presentations opened up alot of doors to thinking about what it may be like in 50 or 100 years, because they were all so unique.

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  10. Most of the presentations were very similar with a few minor variables. They all included smart boards and no teachers. These ideas are realistic as well as futuristic. One of the most futuristic and plausible ideas I found was the cube school. It offered a completely new, standardized way of education. Even the buildings were different. I also noted how they incorporated eastern influences to aid in learning, which I strongly believe in. Some groups really thought and challenged themselves concerning the idea of a future school. Whereas others did the obvious and not much more. I also thought it was interesting how each group represented their school well. The sporty kids did a presentation including a vision of a 0 gravity gym. These ideas were all interesting and realistic... because we can not tell what the future will hold.

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  11. in all the presentations it seemed like everyone had the same concept on how schools are going to be like in 2049. all seemed had no teachers or few teachers, classes are more interesting but have nothing to do with the real world, and the way the class was taught was by electronics. all of the presentations showed some type of extrapolation concept by showing or telling the ways of the future. some of the ideas did spark some type of interest but most seemed to have subjects or ways of teachings that would never even happen. this project made viewers think differently about the future but also logically.

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  12. I noticed that a lot of the groups decided there were going to be no teachers in future classrooms. Many of the ideas included holographic teachers. I thought it was interesting that a few of the groups had the idea that there would be no school at all and we would learn in our sleep by wearing a special device. There were a lot of ideas that were very realistic as in they could actually happen in the future, such as smart boards instead of desks, or the thought of school being mostly on line. My favorite idea of all was the smart-desks which would eliminate all books and pencils and paper. Everything would be touch screen and easy to manual.

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  13. A big theme I noticed with the Schools of the Future presentations was no teachers. Everything was pretty electronically based. In most of the presentations that lacked teachers in the future, there were some sort of holographic teacher source, in order to help you with questions and misunderstandings. In most cases there was a “smart board”, in place of a desk. Also, in many presentations, there was the idea of learning what interests you at a very young age. I think this is a very good idea, however, it is unrealistic. We come to school and learn the basics in order to learn more about our selfs and what we want to do for a living. If, in the future, they make you pick a certain subject field that interests you, then the students will not have a chance to try other fields out.

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  14. I noticed that a lot of presentations were about how technology and eco friendly schools will effect our school tremendously. Also, some ideas like the helmet that you wear at night and get all the information in your head at night were very good. A lot of the projects sparked the idea of extrapolation as a concept by incorporating a lot of technological advancements in their presentation. The presentations did go beyond the rudimentary elements of schools as we now it because school right now has a little technology in it, but it hasn't really changed that much, but people in the ppresentations said that in the future, schools will virtually be all technology.

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  15. A majority of the presentations for "schools of the future" contained examples such as no teachers, and self choice, or even no school but to learn while sleeping. These ideas were all good, but not necessarily specific enough. However, there were also some great ideas shared, such as learning in what environment is best for you whether you are a visual or auditory learner. All these were well thought out ideas but some did not portray what would truly be realistic 20 years from now. I noticed that just because it's "the future," it doesn't mean that schools are going to be strict, for example how flexible schools may be with dress code.

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  16. I noticed in a lot of the presentaions they talked about how teachers would be obsolete in forty years. Another common trait of the presentations would be that everyone would have a lot more freedom to choose what they would like to study school. Although these ideas were not that creative they did show extrapolation because they predicted that there would be no teachers and more freedom in schools around the world. The most interesting idea to me was learning while you sleep. It is a little bit of a strech for forty years but it is a very effective and creative idea towards our future. Clearly, there was a lot of good ideas about future schools.

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  17. In the school of the Future Project presentation there were many groups that said that there would be no teachers in the class rooms. Many ideas were formed by taking things we know today and advancing them. The sleep helmet was an interesting idea which would save lots of time. In the projects everything was based on time efficiency, not having to work as hard for the knowledge and more personalized.

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  18. A pattern I noticed throughout the Schools of the Future Project presentations is that a lot of them didn't have teachers, or they did, but not like the teachers we have today.These ideas did exhibit an understanding of extrapolation as a concept because the ideas weren't too outlandish and they seem possible. Some ideas that sparked my interest were that you didn't have to go to school and you would just put a virtual reality helmet on when you go to bed and you learn while you are sleeping. I also liked the idea of having half of the day to go to work and earn money, so school isn't an all day thing. Yes, the presentations challenged viewers to think beyond the elements of school today because school is so much more different than the schools in the presentations so you really have to think if something like that is actually possible or not.

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  19. There were a lot of common ideas dealing with the Schools of the Future presentations. Students tended to bring up the concept of whether or not students would be taught by real teachers or by new technology that can get subjects taught more quickly. Also, the idea of more students within each classroom was noted more than once, which I agree with because more students are becoming involved in school as time progresses.
    I noticed that most of the future representations were strictly focused on the idea of new technology, rather than common student behavior and school authority (teachers, principals, rules). We happen to focus on the more intruiging context of Science Fiction rather than the finer details of what new social behaviors may happen.

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  20. I thought that all of the presenters did a great job when explaining their ideas, all of which were very creative. Each group included significant details that showed their understanding of extrapolation as well. One idea that particularly interested me was the idea that no teachers would be necessary in the future. I found this interesting because today we rely completely on our teachers to provide us with the knowledge we need to have in order to succeed in life. Each presentation definitely forced me to think about school in a very different way; that in the near future, school will be completely different and new tools will be used to provide students with more knowledge more efficiently. Overall, the presentations were very interesting and I think that many of the ideas that may seem impossible today, will be well-known and very common in the future.

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  21. I noticed quite a bit of wild and bizarre ideas. some truly avante-garde stuff. Most presentations challenged us to wonder what the world would be like if there was knowledge outside of learning from dreams to actual learning specific topics in a non-surreal type of environment. Also the teacher thing was a bit crazy because what if someone loved a certain subject like the art of jeet kun do or how to focus ki energy or maybe even Buddhist koan teachings. With holographic or non existent teachers there will never be a time when your master, or teacher, says something like "Does a dog have Buddha nature?"
    Or the convenience of being able to ask impromptu questions too your teacher. And start a very jazz-esque situation where the master and apprentice will play off one another and see where the lesson goes. The apprentice can ask the master many questions as well and then the guy will say something about Mount Shimeru or that hell (sorry about mild language) is just training. So the student can have more time to think about it because self knowledge rocks harder than factual knowledge. Sure it will impress the ladies if a guy walks up and talks about how the scientific name for the platypus is ornithornicus anatanus or something like that. So I'm not trying to knock a ceryain extrapolation before I rock it but that's just me and my bias for Buddhist koans.

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  22. A common trend among the projects was the concept of beaming information straight to the brain, which would be an extremely effective form of learning. The extrapolation was well used, but may have been over done. These projects were very creative and alot of the ideas for future schools were interesting, and shared alot of insight as to what other students think school could or should be like in the future

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  23. The main idea that i noticed in the extrapolations was that technology is used more than anything else. It is almost like all we would learn from is technology. I thought that the idea of having a holographic version of the teacher going through the lecture while the real one is there was great. That would free up time for the teacher so they can help individual students with their questions. I think that the class as a whole was very creative about their extrapolations. Most of the ideas were also pretty believable. I looked up brain downloads into google and one of the first web pages had the headline brain downloads possible by 2050.

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  24. A lot of people headed toward a teaching method that was very similar to that of a montessori school, developing individual needs and interests while maintaining a good education. Another trend was the fact that there were no teachers; whether this came from no need for them, or because they were 'obsolete' and inefficient by the standards of the future. To an extent, yes, many of the groups utilized extrapolation based on the trends they see progressing today (the ever increasing involvement of technology in schools, the cuts on teachers and the rise in numbers of students per class) and exaggerated them in a manner that was entirely possible and believable. At the same time, I think that it is difficult for most people to think of things that are completely out of their realm, so in turn we just go off of what we have at the time being. I noticed that in most presentations these exaggerations and predictions subtly reflected what the creator wanted at the time; no required courses, don't have to leave home, fun high tech activities, etc. I believe that there are two types of science fiction: literature regarding things you want to happen in the future, and things that you are afraid of happening in the future.

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  25. One of the largest patterns that I noticed was the constant idea of a reduced or non existent teacher presence. This idea seemed to be drawing on the larger size of classrooms and reduction of teachers either we get bigger and bigger or the teacher becomes less and less. I noticed everything was on computers and this seems like good extrapolation seeing as that is how are own school is trying to shift and the idea of more and more smart board technology is very believable. Privatized or more independent education seems to be another thing that people seemed to believe in though it would be tough that may be what happens in the future to compensate for how much knowledge there is and going to be out there. Overall i thought the the ideas were good and seemingly similar which shows that we all share the same idea of the future.

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  26. A huge pattern I noticed in the presentations was the absence of teachers in the classroom. Because of technology, having actual people teach subjects seems ridiculous. Another pattern I noticed was that technology has completely taken over the learning system which makes it very easy for students to be lazy. An idea that I personally didn't agree with was that nothing would be hand-written and everything is typed. I believe that this is generally a bad idea because it makes things very impersonal, even more than they already are. When things aren't personalized, it makes it very difficult for most individuals to learn effectively. Schools will definitely lead into a more technologically based education which might or might not be good but it's just something we have to wait and see.

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