Well, at least the Alberta government is thinking about changing the way that students are taught. Taking into consideration that there is more time spent on phones than on phonics for the average student (depending on who you talk to and where). Dave Hancock:
Alberta’s education system needs to tap into what kids are actually doing in order to get their attention
This is great. The problem:
Hancock has been barnstorming the province for three months, asking people what they expect from the education system over the next two decades.
Two decades? Really? They put in the token, and now antiquated buzzword of technology (why oh why is this still so special??) and then try to map it over 20 years? Most technology people won’t hazard a guess beyond three years, five at the most and Hancock wants to predict the technology needs for the next 20? Most curricula elements regarding technology are outdated by the time they get through all the steps to get from the initial idea to the official document that the teachers have to work with, a prediction made now for 20 years in the future certainly isn’t going to fare any better.
To the Minister’s credit, I think the 20 year quote might be something of a stretch in reporting from Sun Media – Hancock made a similar comment in May 2009 at the 92nd ATA Assembly:
And I think we all know that if we continue to modify the current system, we’ll not necessarily meet the needs of learners to come.
None of us wants our children to be left behind when we need to succeed in a rapidly changing, highly technological and more demanding world.
So Inspiring Education is not about curriculum design, classroom size or teaching methods.
It’s about deciding what an educated Albertan will need to look like 20 years from now.
Somewhere in the middle is likely where we will land when it comes to technology and the curriculum. I’m sure there are people on the Minister’s panel that will let him know that you can’t look 20 years ahead in terms of technology and at best what we need to do is teach the skills that are technology agnostic and attempt to inform attitudes that will foster exploration and creativity with any and all tools that are available. If this revisioning of Alberta’s curriculum follows this theme, I think we’ll be ok, assuming that other politics doesn’t enter the scene.
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