Revolutionizing Education can happen online.
Education as a whole has been in a recession for over 40 years. It has been globally acknowledged that the industrial model of education no longer provides any service to its purpose.
Many more go one step further to advocate that the current education systems are becoming toxic for our own students, not before providing very valid and solid arguments that suggest just that such as in the cases of TED talks
by Goffrey Canada and
by Joshua Katz.
Our students and children are being taught how and what to think while standardized rigid testing can no longer be the criteria via which to assess their academic achievements.
To go one step further, the 21st century market needs dictate that it is the very non-academic skill sets that play a much more vital part in our students and children’s development which most schooling systems do not take into consideration.
Relatively new sciences such as Sociology, Neuroscience and Cognitive Psychology have come to indicate that non academic traits are just as important as academic traits.
They also come to point that the Information Era requires our students need to be equipped with a whole new set of skills that traditional schools no longer offer.
However, some countries have been either bold enough or far-sighted to experiment and reform their educational systems long before they needed to reinvent them such as in the case of the Scandinavian countries.
The results they produced have ranked them in the top educational systems in the world.
Before the Internet and Social Media these changes and concerns would never have been voiced or surfaced nor would the disruptive voice of Sir Ken Robinson have reached almost 43,000,000 views of his inspirational TED talk on “How to escape education’s death valley” :
Sir Ken Robinson recently mentioned the need for a revolution in education and the need for education to reinvent itself rather than reform itself.
The need for change has already reached the tipping point beyond which any reforms can simply be enough.
It is exactly through Social Media platforms such as Youtube, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn and even Facebook that like-minded teachers and educators are finding communication channels through which they can exchange ideas, share knowledge and experience.
Social media platforms provide the communication channels and opportunities that can enable and empower educators and teachers to voice their concerns and drive educational systems globally in the direction of the so much needed change.
Even students can voice and become involved in suggesting ideas and becoming part of change in education as they are the only ones who have never been asked about something that affects them more than anyone else.
How cool would that be?
We have now been given the tools which can allow teachers globally to join forces, exchange ideas and knowledge, and create global communities that can lead to change.
Despite the fact there are still many teachers who feel techno-phobic in many ways whether it is integrating technology in their classrooms or creating and using social media platforms, it is without a doubt that the social media platforms are here and they are here to stay.
Many are the cases where schooling systems remain glued to traditional educational approaches for the fear of failure. But why fear and resist change when what you have been practicing for decades has already been proven flawed?
Whether we like it or not, social media platforms have already become part of the life of our students who belong to the Digital era as well as many younger teachers and educators who are already digitally literate and have achieved digital citizenship.
It is therefore our responsibility as educators and teachers to become leaders in the digital era in order to help and guide our students in that direction as it is the language today’s students speak and it is our job to be champions of digital citizenship. As Rita Pierson explicitly said in her TED talk,
“Every kid needs a champion” and that can be none other than the teachers and educators.
The digital tools are at our disposal, the power of global connectivity for all teachers is readily available.
For those who wish to see change, we can create communities on G+ and closed groups on Facebook, we can and we should follow each other on Twitter and Linkedin.
By creating and becoming members of these social media hubs is where and how we can bring about change in education.
Awaiting for politics or politicians to bring about the necessary changes in education has already proven to be fruitless and in vain.
The imperatives for change in education have already been dictated and social media platforms pose as the best the way to create these global communities where teachers and educators can join forces to improve education as a whole.
Social Media platforms must be the path to revolutionize and demand the education our children deserve.
