Quote: “The society that has a great educational system becomes the prominent society because that's the way the human race survives... People seem to forget this fact, and often these are the same people who are running the society. They would rather spend money on the military than on the educational system, unaware that the military will bring them zippo.” (Lucas)
Reaction: No doubt, education levels the playing field and gives more people an opportunity to achieve more success. However, equal opportunity does not mean that there will be equal results and critics and zealots alike unfairly ostracize the educational system for not producing children equally alike. If children were equal in learning abilities, desires and interests, we could use a cookie cutter approach. But that isn’t reality and we have learned that with the shortfalls of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Lucas does point out that we the way we communicate now has changed, and therefore the way we teach children to communicate must change. I don’t agree that throwing more money at education is the answer without serious reform, such as tying student performance to teaching effectiveness in a viable way. Flooding educational institutions with more revenue isn’t going to accomplish in a system if mediocrity continues to get protected. Alluding to military spending as the reason we don’t have more money to spend on education is not an answer either. American citizens have an open society and secular public education system because of our military personnel who defend our freedoms, and are willing to stand up for citizens anywhere in the world who want the same freedoms.
Mr. Lucas’s work in digital technology and film is transferable to the military, space research, and other industries where simulations play an important role in research and job preparation. Let us not pit education spending against military spending; both are important. In fact, the military needs people who have highly developed critical thinking skills and leadership abilities. It provides excellent career opportunities that is perfectly suited to some students. If there is any lesson to be learned from this article, it is that we shouldn’t label or pigeon hole students, but instead expose them to a wide variety of learning experiences to help them find their passions and develop a purpose.
Lucas does point out that we the way we communicate now has changed, and therefore the way we teach children to communicate must change. I don’t agree that throwing more money at education is the answer without serious reform, such as tying student performance to teaching effectiveness in a viable way. Flooding educational institutions with more revenue isn’t going to accomplish in a system if mediocrity continues to get protected. Alluding to military spending as the reason we don’t have more money to spend on education is not an answer either. American citizens have an open society and secular public education system because of our military personnel who defend our freedoms, and are willing to stand up for citizens anywhere in the world who want the same freedoms.
Mr. Lucas’s work in digital technology and film is transferable to the military, space research, and other industries where simulations play an important role in research and job preparation. Let us not pit education spending against military spending; both are important. In fact, the military needs people who have highly developed critical thinking skills and leadership abilities. It provides excellent career opportunities that is perfectly suited to some students. If there is any lesson to be learned from this article, it is that we shouldn’t label or pigeon hole students, but instead expose them to a wide variety of learning experiences to help them find their passions and develop a purpose.
Daly, J. (2002, September 14). Life on the screen:Visual literacy in education. In Edutopia. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.edutopia.org/lucas-visual-literacy
Additional Resources:
The resource below is found on PBS LearningMedia (both links are provided). It features a video on how visual learning is integrated into lesson plans and delivered in a cyberlearning environment.
KQED, . (n.d.). What is cyberlearning?. In PBS Learning Media. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/content/cyb11.pd.cyber.overview/
PBS LearningMedia, a next-generation digital media service, empowers PreK–16 educators to re-imagine classroom learning, transform teaching, and creatively engage students. It brings together the best of public media, produced specifically for educators, from PBS, WGBH, and over 55 public media partners. High-quality content tied to Common Core and national curriculum standards is freely available to all educators as a basic service. PBS LearningMedia, a next-generation digital media service, empowers PreK–16 educators to re-imagine classroom learning, transform teaching, and creatively engage students. It brings together the best of public media, produced specifically for educators, from PBS, WGBH, and over 55 public media partners. High-quality content tied to Common Core and national curriculum standards is freely available to all educators as a basic service.
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/
The way we communicate has changed, and I liked how you mentioned that. We do need to be exposed to a wide variety of learning experiences. Great post!
ReplyDeleteReally good response, I liked the way you tied all the different variables together.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your response. We as an society need to be exposed to different varieties of communication.
ReplyDeletePerfect response! the way the world communicates is changing everyday. I agree with you by not throwing money at the schools and expecting reform. We do need to expose the students to all kinds of communication.
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