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| Photo: School of One, Source |
Q: What do you think of the concept of a “school-of-one” and Khan Academies? How will this approach to technology shape the classroom of the future?
A: I find the concept of a “school-of-one” as talked about in the Freakenomics podcast and Salman Khan's TED talk fascinating. Some of the ideas that they are proposing seem to be both the answer to education that we've all been waiting for and the craziest thing I have ever heard. Obviously I have mixed feelings about these ideas, but over all, I am all about revolutionizing the face of education as long as it actually works.
One of the key part of both the school-of-one and Khan Academy was something that we are already starting to see more of in our schools due to the focus on standards. The key component to both programs was constant data monitoring. By tracking every student as they pass through each step of the learning process, these programs ensure that students are not left with gaps that will only grow larger as they go on in school. As part of the standards movement, teachers are already trying to accomplish this, but using the computer tests to monitor student progress is a particularly elegant way to keep track of student learning. By simply taking a quick look at a spread sheet, teachers know instantly how each student is doing, what skills need more work, and where they are ready to move on. Teachers already do this all of the time in the form of formate and summative assessments, but having the computer program as an added aid to ensure that no student slips through the cracks would be very powerful.
Another important thing that both programs used was giving students control of their own learning. Being a self-regulated learner empowers students in their education. Giving students exposure to programs where they are in control of how they learn not only maximizes their potential by giving them the best suited instruction, it also gives them a feeling of power and responsibility to achieve. I could see many students in my class excelling in a program where they were in charge of their own schedule and classes. Of course, giving students a great deal of power also means that there will be added pressure on teachers to make sure that they are using their time at school to the best effect.
One of the things that stuck out to me in the school-of-one was the idea that no one knew what the program would look like on a large scale. would one type of program work better than the others? Would students be evenly disbursed throughout all of the different “modalities of learning?” Something I could see happening if school-of-one was played out on a large scale is that the city of New York would have to hire many more teachers as they realized that small group instruction leads to optimized student learning. Since most states don't seem to be willing to spend the money to reduce student to teacher ratio now, would this program really change their minds?
Personally, I could see using Khan Academy in my future lessons. I know that I would have found it helpful to be able to play confusing lectures over again, and I suspect that many students would feel the same way. Particularly, I could see these types of programs being great in the rural parts of Alaska where there aren't always enough students to justify certain classes.
Both of these programs offered a lot of food for thought about how technology could be used to change the way our education system works. I see a lot of great potential in both of these programs, and I will be standing by watching to see if either of them can live up to the potential they seem to have.
