Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Who Should Carry the Workload in Class?

I spoke with a group of high school students today and asked them, "Are your classes better when the teacher does most of the work, or are they better when students do mos of the work?" The ten students were unanimous. They all agreed that they want to be the ones working harder in class.

Sure, it might be easier to sit back and let the teacher do the talking, but students know they are not doing their best learning under those conditions. They also know Sit 'N Git is not a fun way for them to spend their time in class.

Today's students want to be engaged in the learning. (Just today's students? Wasn't this always true?) Students are used to going to their homes and picking up high-tech tools and toys. Classes that look as they did in the middle of the 20th Century are not engaging for this breed. It is time for all schools to give their students the technology to enable them to find class time as fascinating as they find their time outside of class. This is why I support the concept of one-to-one laptop computing in all Iowa schools, and in all of our nation's schools.

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