The classroom has changed since we have learned more about how information is encoded in the brain, allowing more insight into classroom activities that encourage learning. Most teachers now realize that lecture doesn’t work, and we need to have engaging activities for students. Students should be part of a collaboration of active learning, and working on activies that promote the long term changes of neurons.
What has become more clear to me is that our assignments are often too far removed from what students are experiencing every day. With the internet, we have the ability to access great amounts of information in a very short time. The 21st century skills we need to be teaching are how and where to obtain credible information.
Most importantly is the fact that we need to teach innovation and working through problems independently and collaboratively. We need to teach students to work their hardest and not give up. When we can’t figure out the answer to a problem, the student should be encouraged to reach out to a classmate first for help, as students will be often working with peers in the workforce.
This makes me think again of how terrible SOPA is for the United States of America. We need free information to teach students the where and how to find credible information. Its imperative that we use tools to keep open-source education.
Students in active learning are the same students that will be leading groundbreaking innovation in the future. It’s time that the United States of America put money into education, through hiring highly advanced teachers and merit-based pay. We need to keep this innovation a large part of American culture, for the United States will not stay competitive without innovation.
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