First published Mar. 23 2016 for ETEC565:

I visited a friend and former work-mate last week at his home, and conversation strayed into education and technology, in no small part due to his growing interest in pursuing the MET.  He said something I found quite interesting, which was along the lines of: he believes, in the future, that schools will not have set class times or sizes, but will organize and present students with ‘modules’ that they can pick up, finish at their best speed, get help with as needed, and submit as they are able.  The role of the teacher will be to provide the tailored help to each student as they require it – something that many of us have spoken about doing more and more even in our ‘traditional’ classroom environments.  Apparently some schools are already trying out this model, and whether or not my friend knew about it, he hit on ideas very similar to the readings from this week.

Alexander’s (2014) ‘2 cultures of the future’ idea poses some interesting possibilities, and ones that don’t seem hard to imagine as coming to fruition.  The idea of medical specialists being treated like superstars is certainly an appealing idea, but if I’m to be cynical about it, I think first there would need to be a more wide-spread recognition that such people are going to be needed in the coming future.  I was an avid watcher of CBC’s ‘Keeping Canada Alive’ when it was first on tv this fall, and was absolutely ‘wowed’ by some of the technological advancements on display there, from mobile monitors that allow skype calls with doctors into remote Northern hospital rooms, to unobtrusive laser chemo treatments that target brain tumors without surgery – but I had to ask myself, why is this the first time I’m hearing of it!?  I wonder if it’s due to our cultures reactive response to medical issues, rather than a proactive one.  So instead of eating and moving and living our lives in such a way that will help stave off future issues, we are told to just ‘live the good life’ until something starts to go funny, and THEN start consuming a product or pill.  Instead of glorifying the wonders of medicine as they advance, they stay in secret, hidden by our fears of becoming ill and the process of dying, only coming to light when we need them.

I’ve gone off on a bit of a seeming rant here, but this does actually tie-in to my ideas and values around education, and how technology will play a role if used properly.  I’ve had some of my more meaningful teaching moments in recent years when I saw students understand how something they do, love, pursue, or understand, relates to the world around them and outside of their small every-day experiences.  Technology can not only help them make those connections, but it can also inspire them to see possibilities – whether through communicating and ‘disrupting’ the normal cultural narrative in a MOOC, or collaborating and innovating and inspiring each other despite distance.  I think the greatest challenge that exists at the moment, and that I have faced so far as an educator, is wrenching our students out of their worlds, which are so small and over-saturated with consumer media, and helping them see the potential of what is available to them and their place in it.  So far I only have experience doing this on small scales, with individual classes or students, but I would love to be involved in seeing this happen in much greater terms, and ideally, in contexts that serve usually marginalize or under-served voices.  It’s not hard to convince a wealthy private school student that their voice matters, or that they can benefit from technology and getting out there in the world – I would much rather see what students who don’t get to hear that message consistently can do with the right support.