"Next century, schools
as we know them will no longer exist," says a feature in The Age
publication, based in Melbourne, Australia. "In their place will be
community-style centers operating seven days a week, 24 hours a day."
Computers will become an essential ingredient in the recipe for an effective
school of the future.
Students, The Age asserts,
will see and hear teachers on computers, with "remote learning" the
trend of tomorrow. Accessing "classrooms" on their home computers,
students will learn at times most convenient for them
At Seashore Primary School,
an imaginary school of the future created by the Education Department of
Australia, technology is the glue that holds classes together. At the imaginary
Seashore school:
·
all teachers and students have laptop computers.
·
teachers check voicemail and return students' calls on a special
telephone system.
·
students use telephones to find information or speak to experts
in subject areas they are studying.
·
all lessons are multidisciplinary.
·
all students have individual learning plans created by teachers.
A Real-Life
School of the Future
Right here in the United
States are public schools that strive to bring the future into the present. One
of those schools, A.C.T. Academy in McKinney, Texas, was created as an actual
"school of the future." Originally funded by a $5.5 million grant
from the U.S. Department of Education, the school is now supported by the
McKinney Independent School District.
At the school, knowledge is
"actively constructed by the learner on a base of prior knowledge,
attitudes, and values." Sophisticated technology is in place to support
the pursuit of knowledge.
Teachers assess student
learning through portfolios and creative performance tasks. Again, the object
is to use real-life approaches to assessment.
Working
Toward Future Schools
The Center for the School
of the Future (CSF) is the brainchild of the College of Education at Utah State
University.
·
identify the most effective teaching approaches, techniques, and
ideologies,
·
encourage innovations and their adaptation to specific
circumstances,
·
assist the creation of a community of parents and teachers who
support each other in improving schools
The CSF is forming a
Research and Best Practice Clearinghouse, a Parent Academy, and a Teacher
Academy.
·
"equity and excellence,"
·
teaching of basic skills combined with creative problem-solving,
·
respect for individual values as well as diversity,
·
preparation for democracy as well as a world economy.
Technology Is
Key
Whatever the configuration
of a school of the future might be, technology is always a huge part of it.
Ginger Howenic, a consultant and director for The Classroom of the Future
Foundation, recently made a presentation in the Lake Washington (Washington) School
District.
The school days when
computers meant word processing or playing games are already behind us. Yet no
matter how great a part computers and other technologies play in the school of
the future, it is only a means, advocates of technology say, to the greater end
of enabling students to learn through interaction with various aspects of life.
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