In a video from ISTE Vision News, the keynote speaker, Yong
Zhao, discusses the topic of global, creative, and entrepreneurial skills as it
relates to education. The main argument
being made by the speaker is that there is too much focus on test scores which,
in his words, “do not reflect your teaching ability, your students’ future, or
your schools quality” (Zhao, 2012).
There needs to be a shift is the way we view our school systems. As a society, we want employable skills for
our youth, and I think this often leads to conformity and, in turn, kills the
creativity of students. Dr. Yong Zhao
contends that school programs and curriculum needs to enhance human talents and
strengths rather than trying to fix deficits that exist in our students.
I have always questioned the way that the education system
measures success among students. Yong
Zhao’s argument about too much focus begin placed on testing is right on the mark,
as far as I am concerned. I have known
individuals who do poorly on standardized exams such as the ACT and SAT,
but do incredibly well in both their college adventure and career.
While reading the conclusion of the text, some connections between
the text and Dr. Yong Zhao become clear.
Dr. Zhao says that educators need to find out what matters in the terms
of what is important to build a curriculum for students in the technology
age. This creates a problem. “It is problematic to develop a standardized
set of benchmarks to measure kid’s levels of new media and technical literacy” because
media changes quickly and is driven by so many different practices of
participation (Ito, 2010). Education
needs to put the students in the driver’s seat, so to speak. When we allow more real-life, interest
driven, and self-directed learning to take place, we are allowing true learning
to occur. “We should value diversity
rather than standardization” (Ito, 2010).
References
Ito, M. (2010). Hanging
Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media.
Zhao, Y. (Writer) (2012). Iste 2012 tuewsday keynote
feasturing yong zhao [Web]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKXeNKsjoMI
These are excellent connections! You sound like a New Literacies educator! I hope this course will empower you to encourage parents, educators, and concerned citizens to resist the singular focus on test scores and demand schools that fostering students'creativity and diverse ways of knowing!
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