[Air-L] Your Opinion

Thu Apr 16 13:34:29 PDT 2009

Hi Alex, 

Thanks, you are right.  It was a question about research.  I appreciate the
clarification.  I may at times jump toward the practicality of ideas and not
celebrate the richness in simply discussing them.

I do know that many people believe that students learn differently today
because of technology.  In my experience educators are having a difficult
time addressing it.

Thanks,

Elaine

On 4/16/09 10:57 AM, "Alex Halavais" <alex at halavais.net> wrote:

> To be clear, I was not advocating individual tutoring for all. Your
> question was not "what policy should be implemented" but "what
> research should be done?" I fear a lot of educational research assumes
> that the question of how people learn is already clear, or should be
> relegated to psychologists. I think designing education for the masses
> is impossible without understanding how *people* learn.
> 
> And yes, that does put the person first--and yes, to Jeremy's point,
> it perhaps fails to problematize individual subjectivity, something
> that a lot of educational theorists also fail to do--but I think the
> perspective gained by taking the person (in the context of their
> personal history) as the unit of analysis would help build toward a
> more useful set of ideas surrounding education, and a reduction in
> widget production.
> 
> -A
> 
> 
> On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 10:29 AM, Elaine Studnicki
> <elainestudnicki at comcast.net> wrote:
>> The teaching of and/or giving individual learning plans (aka: personalize
>> learning) in public education is a practice used for students in need and
>> the other end of the spectrum, the smart students.  It is, in my opinion and
>> as it is currently being used, a build in tool to segregate students and our
>> society.  The realities of implementing such a program, something that
>> educators are talking about, would require a complete change of our public
>> education system, if it were to provide a equity of services for all
>> students.  We are not organized for it and it concerns me that we believe it
>> should change but can't seem to make it so.  Nick is right, it is a
>> staggeringly difficult thing to do.
>> 
>> What, however, would happen if we changed the direction of education.
>> Instead of "giving" an education students "select" their education.  Which
>> may be what you mean Alex. But I don't think public education was ever
>> intended to teach the individual student.  It was for the masses.
>> 
>> One other thought, 21st century skill sets identify collaborative work as a
>> skill students need in their future.  If you haven't seem them...
>> http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/index.php?option=com_content&view=a
>> rticle&id=5&Itemid=2
>> Information, media, and technology skills are listed there.
>> 
>> 
>> On 4/15/09 9:34 AM, "jeremy hunsinger" <jhuns at vt.edu> wrote:
>> 
>>> this worries me.... what if there really is no 'single student', but
>>> individualism is just an ideology and really we work best in small
>>> groups without that individuality that allows us to construct the
>>> 'single student'.   there has been a significant amount of research
>>> and writing on the problems surrounding the construction of the
>>> individual subject in modern society, and a good bit about tribes,
>>> groupuscules, and related matters also, but overall i see there are
>>> some possible benefits toward pushing against the model of the 'single
>>> student'  as the target of our learning systems.
>>> On Apr 15, 2009, at 9:03 AM, Alex Halavais wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I'll bite. I think we need to figure out what the extremes of
>>>> personalized learning are, and what implications these have for
>>>> learning in groups, institutions, and on the network. Yes, that is a
>>>> broad task, and one that is probably closely associated with Howard
>>>> Gardner, but designing a good educational system for many means, I
>>>> think, understanding how to design the best educational system for the
>>>> single student.
>>>> 
>>>> - Alex
>>>> 
>>>> On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 8:02 PM, Elaine Studnicki
>>>> <elainestudnicki at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>>> Colleagues,
>>>>> 
>>>>> I have hovered in the background for quite some time reading your
>>>>> extremely
>>>>> rich and diverse areas of interest/research. As a K-12 educator/
>>>>> doctoral
>>>>> student I am interested in the connections between higher ed.
>>>>> research and
>>>>> the daily classroom instruction/environment that composes our
>>>>> national
>>>>> educational system.  I am compelled to ask this question:
>>>>> 
>>>>> In your opinion what do you currently think is the most important
>>>>> area of
>>>>> research or perhaps the most important area "needing" research for
>>>>> our K-12
>>>>> educational system?
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thank you for your help and time,
>>>>> 
>>>>> Elaine
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
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>>>> //
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>>>> // Alexander C. Halavais, ciberflâneur
>>>> // http://alex.halavais.net
>>>> //
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>> 
>> 
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> 
> 