Education

Our society is due for a dramatic change to our education. We need to get rid of old books, crowded classrooms, and the inefficient teachers. Let's face it, we all had our good and bad teachers in school. Some just had a knack for teaching, others repeatedly assumed things, giving false information, etc.

We need to embrace technology. A laptop for every student. Instead of cutting down the trees to print out the textbooks which need to be revised every year, digital textbooks could be uploaded to the internet. Each section could have forums, and discussions for any curious student or teacher. At any point, teachers can add, edit, and re-organize information. Videos add the possibility of students from any part of the world to see lectures being given by the greatest minds. Instant interactivity can quiz every individual child. (As compared to asking only one child in the room, while the rest sit quietly, hoping not to get called upon). I'm sure every teacher would appreciate not having to mark every single test and homework assignment. The computer can do it for you.

By using computer software, this allows for students to specialize in knowledge earlier. If a child loves physics, and wants to specialize in it, he should be encouraged, and allowed to do so.

These methods are much cheaper as well. Instead of printing out thousands of books for each student, once anything is uploaded to the internet, it is completely free to view it on a laptop. Instead of hiring an expensive college professor, a video can be taken, and viewed again and again.

A more immediate idea is that since almost every student already has an mp3 player, courses should be available on mp3, with tests over the internet. The teaching company is a fine example of high quality education available over the internet. This is not only cheaper then our current system but it would also make education much more convenient for students.

Here is an example of a group of students being punished for working together over facebook on their schoolwork. While the assignment may have been designed for the individual, we should be creating a new style of education that teaches people how to work together. Our society has gotten more and more specialized and will continue to do so. Students need to find their specialties and use them to work together to complete a larger goal then any individual could have.

While throwing out the old textbooks and embracing technology has many benefits, including allowing children to do work from home, there are still many reasons for the traditional methods. For example, while a computer can check for grammar in a creative arts assignment, it can't mark the student for elements like intrigue and so on. Of coarse, there are obvious classes like physical education, and drama that can't be done over the computer. A complication that will have to be solved is how to keep a student from cheating. It's hard enough for our current schools as it is, with ipods, online essays, and tricks being posted on the web.

Maybe it's time for students to be taught morality and the importance of learning so that they don't want to cheat. The option will still be there, and there may be methods to test students every so often in a traditional manner to see who's really learning and who's not.

In either case, it's time that we use technology to make our education more advanced, which will in turn, will make our technology more advanced, creating a revolution.