TechIntersect

In 2007 Vinton Cerf, a founding father of the Internet wrote that what this country needs is another Sputnik to reinvigorate science education. After reading Cerf’s article, last spring I did a research project on the National Defense Education Act. The NDEA was the US response to the launch of Sputnik, hoping to improve schools and better compete with the perceived Soviet threat.

Today, on Daniel Pink’s blog, I find another interesting reference to this landmark event. This time it was a video of James Paul Gee discussing education reform. A few of the highlights I picked up on in the video include:

• Global competition will be the new Sputnik, and American education has a 50% chance it will experience the first real reform in 100 years as a result.
• Teachers have become de-professionalized, letting textbooks, testing and politicians make curriculum decisions rather than teachers making professional decisions about what and how best to teach. (Not an indictment of teachers, just a statement of current reality.)
• Innovation and creativity are not emphasized enough because many schools are simply test-prep academies.
• Social media helps to create “passion groups” through which people with similar passions can come together
• Teachers learning to use new digital tools are model learners for students

If you have 11 minutes or so, why not enjoy the entire video?

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