Learning from the Masters by Jim Gates

Learning from the Masters by Jim Gates

            In this blog, Jim Gates talks about the fact that there is so much information available on the internet now, he wonders how relevant school even is to children anymore. He read comments from a young man who said that he learned to play the violin from the masters of the field by listening to them and watching them on YouTube. Children don’t seem to need an education anymore—they have the internet and how-to tutorials. When they go to school, the technology that they use at home and on their phones, they can’t use it or it’s blocked. He claims that school or a traditional education has no relevancy today to most students. Education has to be taught from the context of the real world, and most schools don’t seem to get that. You want children to succeed and do well in the world? Then teach them in the context of the world they live in. Gates believes that schools typically do what’s best for them not their students.

            He says that students already have access to all the knowledge that’s available in the world right at their fingertips. Help them learn how to use it wisely, correctly and responsibly. Like many educators, he’s frustrated with the schools that block the technology that is used every day by so many people. Schools are blocking not just YouTube and Twitter, they are blocking things like all wikis, blogs, even Google Docs. How are we supposed to teach our children how to live and work in the real world when we block the very technology they need to learn to be successful in the real world? I loved when he said, “I just wish public schools would somehow feel a sense of intense urgency for the need to be more than just the mediums for passing a state mandated test.” I agree with him completely. How can we teach them to be good digital citizens, if we take away the very technology they need to learn to be successful?

Citation:

Gates, Jim. “Learning From the Masters.” TipLine-Gates’ Computer Tips 14 Jun 2011. Web. 17 Jun 2011. http://tipline.blogspot.com/2011/06/learning-from-masters.html