Education Technology

Google has a unique idea, called the 80/20 rule. Google engineers are encouraged to take 20 percent of their time to work on something company-related that interests them personally. It is a great idea and has spawned many of Google's apps and resources and made Google very successful, and a very good place to work.

Last week, I read an article on Converge Magazine's site entitled "Google's 80/20 Principle Adopted at New Jersey School". The article details how a principal has created the same kind of atmosphere for the teachers, giving them time each week to come up with interdisciplinary projects, new assessments and ways to integrate technology into their students' learning . Teachers get two or three 48-minute periods a week to work on what they want to work on, instead of being stuck in meeting's or duty assignments. They can work with other teachers, do research, work on creative lessons, enrich themselves, and more.

It's a great idea that I hope spreads to other schools. Too much time in school is wasted on irrelevant meetings. Teachers need time to work on things that will help them in their classroom.

I'd also like to see it applied to students. Students should get time each week, in school, to explore what interests them. I try to give students some time to do this with some assignments I give them on applying physics to things they like, but I'd love to expand it to every week. Students, in a room with a teacher to offer help and support when needed, would be able to explore anything they are interested in. Imagine how that would appeal to a student!

It could be incorporated into each class, or set up as a scheduled time each week. Give students time each week to explore anything they want to. I can see students going well beyond their grade level and curriculum to explore and create things that are interesting to them. I think it would also encourage more students to stay in school, explore things that interest them to help them focus on career ideas and college/trades, and would help them learn.


What do you think?




Related:

Homework and project ideas I'm using in my classes that are authentic
Making School Relevant for Students

10 Important Skills Students Need for the Future

Project Based Learning

Science of Everyday Life

Create a Personal Learning Network

Should we force students to learn? or How can we change schools to engage students?

Differentiating with Web 2.0 Technologies

Last night, 60 minutes did a story on Khan Academy. For those of you who don’t know, Khan Academy is a collection of free video lectures. It was started as a way for the founder, Sal Khan, to help a family member with homework. Many people are saying that Khan Academy is “the greatest thing in education.” I disagree. 




Khan Academy is videos of lectures. This is nothing new. They are boring and do not allow the student to interact with the lecturer. They also focus on solving a math or science problem through basic steps, but do not focus on the actual theory behind the problem. The student may be able to solve that problem, but can they apply the concept to other problems and situations? Many of my students who have watched the videos say that they are boring, and even confusing at times, and that they would rather have me show them. I agree. I find the videos boring and not as great as people seem to say. The other sad thing is that there are millions of dollars flowing to Khan Academy to create more boring, teacher centered, lectures. This money could be better spent in schools on truly innovative ideas and projects.

Mr. Khan stated that the purpose of Khan Academy was to have the students watch the lectures at home, on their own, so teachers could do better things in class. How about we get rid of the lectures all together, or use them sparingly in class as an interactive discussion? How about we make sure that students can learn during class time. How about we assign “homework” to students that addresses their interests and needs?


Videos, whether shown in class or watched at home should show and explore something that the student can not see in class. Virtual field trips, animations that explain a concept, etc. are effective videos. Videos of lectures are not effective and should not be thought of as effective education reform.
Khan Academy is not education reform and it is nothing special or new. It is actually bad pedagogy. Learning needs to be interactive and student centered. Video lectures are neither.

One of the movements that are touting Khan Academy is the Flipped Classroom idea. This is where the students watch videos and lectures at home and the teacher does other work with them in class, such as answering questions and helping them do problems that would normally be done for homework. I have a lot of issues with the Flipped Classroom (read more here), including the fact that this increases the amount of time students have to do homework, doesn’t account for students not having access to the technology to view these videos, and does not follow effective pedagogy. I would rather see the entire class changed to project based learning and instead of doing tons of problem sets, have students research and solve real-world problems. Any homework students do should be to get them more interested in the topic and should be relevant to their lives.

I have no problem sharing Khan Academy with my students as one resource that they can use if they want to to help them with a topic. But for people to say it’s the next best thing in education is ridiculous and uniformed. It rates up there with thinking that more standardized tests actually help students learn.


What do you think?


Related:

Khan Academy

Flipped Classroom - what it is and my reservations of it

Flipped Classroom - my thoughts on it, some other ideas, & infographic

Making School Relevant for Students

10 Important Skills Students Need for the Future

Project Based Learning

Create a Personal Learning Network

Should we force students to learn? or How can we change schools to engage students?

Differentiating with Web 2.0 Technologies