[blindkid] Educational Food for Thought: 21 Things That Will Be Obsolete by 2020

Sun Dec 11 11:33:50 UTC 2011

Many of these points are already happening.

Living near "Gates" city of Seattle, the private schools have integrated
many of these technology principles already. The inter cooperate of
children expanding their minds into high levels: PowerPoint presentations
for book reports in early elementary school, blogs and web sites created by
the students integrate their projects with their peers. Building what the
mind can think up, instead of writing it on paper, helping the community
for a school project.

Right now, Blind students doing virtual instruction contacting who they
need right from their seat in the classroom for an answer, accessing books
faster than their sighted peers can open their book and find a printed
page. Doing research on the Internet versus going into an inaccessible
library and the computer being the small size so my girls can slide it into
their small purse and carry wherever they need. But it will only happen in
the forward thinking schools and the teachers who want to keep their jobs
who will expand their minds into the great potential of "What CAN be." it
is greater than what we can imagine.

Virtual instruction is here....Personally making the complete transition
over 9 months ago and 100% of what I do because of the demand of expertise
further than I can drive in a day (and what many of these schools are using
also..school are.in part right now, but it will become more as time goes on
=it is exciting to see that learning can occur at any time someone wants
and you do not need to go to a brick and mortar school from 8-3 to be
"educated",  So many home school children using virtual instruction for
years now who did not fit into the brick and mortar "structure"
supplementing what  parents are doing. I have seen great success come from
virtual instruction with sighted and blind at their homes or in their
communities---thinking way outside the box of the "normal structure". There
is something for everyone. The great combo of children being home schooled
to fit their personality, then going to the school for sports or chem lab
or other major activities is some of the best cooperative learning I have
seen.

Just know that it can be greater than what your mind can even conceive
right now. It is opening your mind to possibilities and they are vast.
Denise

On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 11:08 PM, DrV <icdx at earthlink.net> wrote:

> A glimpse into the future? Here is this week¹s ³Principal's Message² from
> my
> eldest son¹s high school newsletter:
>
> Principal's Message
>
> December 2, 2012
>
> My daughter Katie will be starting her senior year in the fall of 2020.
>  She
> is only in the 3rd grade now, but has an email account, which she regularly
> uses to communicate with her teacher about homework.  I often think about
> how different her educational experience is from what mine was.  She uses
> her iPad to go over math concepts and reads her books through a Kindle app.
>
> I often wonder how different her high school experience will be from what I
> experience now.  This summer I stumbled upon this article online.  While
> not
> expert in any way, it is an interesting opinion on where we are possibly
> headed.  What a better way to end the year than looking toward the future.
>
> 21 Things That Will Be Obsolete By 2020
> <
> http://mbusd.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b50ae2c8e9e6deded6721ac75&i
> d=e621027afb&e=fbd6a8086f>
> Shelly Blake-Plock
>
> 1. DESKS
> The 21st century does not fit neatly into rows. Neither should your
> students. Allow the network-based concepts of flow, collaboration, and
> dynamism help you rearrange your room for authentic 21st century learning.
>
> 2. LANGUAGE LABS
> Foreign language acquisition is only a smartphone away. Get rid of those
> clunky desktops and monitors and do something fun with that room.
>
> 3. COMPUTERS
> Ok, so this is a trick answer. More precisely this one should read: ŒOur
> concept of what a computer is¹. Because computing is going mobile and over
> the next decade we¹re going to see the full fury of individualized
> computing
> via handhelds come to the fore. Can¹t wait.
>
> 4. HOMEWORK
> The 21st century is a 24/7 environment. And the next decade is going to see
> the traditional temporal boundaries between home and school disappear. And
> despite whatever Secretary Duncan might say, we don¹t need kids to Œgo to
> school¹ more; we need them to Œlearn¹ more. And this will be done 24/7 and
> on the move (see #3).
>
> 5. THE ROLE OF STANDARDIZED TESTS IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS
> The AP Exam is on its last legs. The SAT isn¹t far behind. Over the next
> ten
> years, we will see Digital Portfolios replace test scores as the #1 factor
> in college admissions.
>
> 6. DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION AS A SIGN OF DISTINGUISHED TEACHER
> The 21st century is customizable. In ten years, the teacher who hasn¹t yet
> figured out how to use tech to personalize learning will be the teacher out
> of a job. Differentiation won¹t make you Œdistinguished¹; it¹ll just be a
> natural part of your work.
>
> 7. FEAR OF WIKIPEDIA
> Wikipedia is the greatest democratizing force in the world right now. If
> you
> are afraid of letting your students peruse it, it¹s time you get over
> yourself.
>
> 8. PAPERBACKS
> Books were nice. In ten years¹ time, all reading will be via digital means.
> And yes, I know, you like the Œfeel¹ of paper. Well, in ten years¹ time
> you¹ll hardly tell the difference as Œpaper¹ itself becomes digitized.
>
> 9. ATTENDANCE OFFICES
> Bio scans. ŒNuff said.
>
> 10. LOCKERS
> A coat-check, maybe.
>
> 11. I.T. DEPARTMENTS
> Ok, so this is another trick answer. More subtly put: IT Departments as we
> currently know them. Cloud computing and a decade¹s worth of increased wifi
> and satellite access will make some of the traditional roles of IT ‹
> software, security, and connectivity ‹ a thing of the past. What will IT
> professionals do with all their free time? Innovate. Look to tech
> departments to instigate real change in the function of schools over the
> next twenty years.
>
> 12. CENTRALIZED INSTITUTIONS
> School buildings are going to become Œhomebases¹ of learning, not the
> institutions where all learning happens. Buildings will get smaller and
> greener, student and teacher schedules will change to allow less people on
> campus at any one time, and more teachers and students will be going out
> into their communities to engage in experiential learning.
>
> 13. ORGANIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICES BY GRADE
> Education over the next ten years will become more individualized, leaving
> the bulk of grade-based learning in the past. Students will form peer
> groups
> by interest and these interest groups will petition for specialized
> learning. The structure of K-12 will be fundamentally altered.
>
> 14. EDUCATION SCHOOLS THAT FAIL TO INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY
> This is actually one that could occur over the next five years. Education
> Schools have to realize that if they are to remain relevant, they are going
> to have to demand that 21st century tech integration be modeled by the very
> professors who are supposed to be preparing our teachers.
>
> 15. PAID/OUTSOURCED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
> No one knows your school as well as you. With the power of a PLN
> (professional learning networks) in their back pockets, teachers will rise
> up to replace peripatetic professional development gurus as the source of
> school wide professional development programs. This is already happening.
>
> 16. CURRENT CURRICULAR NORMS
> There is no reason why every student needs to take however many credits in
> the same course of study as every other student. The root of curricular
> change will be the shift in middle schools to a role as foundational
> content
> providers and high schools as places for specialized learning.
>
> 17. PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE NIGHT
> Ongoing parent-teacher relations in virtual reality will make
> parent-teacher
> conference nights seem quaint. Over the next ten years, parents and
> teachers
> will become closer than ever as a result of virtual communication
> opportunities. And parents will drive schools to become ever more tech
> integrated.
>
> 18. TYPICAL CAFETERIA FOOD
> Nutrition information + handhelds + cost comparison = the end of $3.00
> bowls
> of microwaved mac and cheese. At least, I so hope so.
>
> 19. OUTSOURCED GRAPHIC DESIGN AND WEB DESIGN
> You need a website/brochure/promo/etc.? Well, for goodness sake just let
> your kids do it. By the end of the decade ‹ in the best of schools ‹ they
> will be.
>
> 20. HIGH SCHOOL ALGEBRA 1
> Within the decade, it will either become the norm to teach this course in
> middle school or we¹ll have finally woken up to the fact that there¹s no
> reason to give algebra weight over statistics and I.T. in high school for
> non-math majors (and they will have all taken it in middle school anyway).
>
> 21. PAPER
> In ten years¹ time, schools will decrease their paper consumption by no
> less
> than 90%. And the printing industry and the copier industry and the paper
> industry itself will either adjust or perish.
>
> Go MUSTANGS!
> Ben Dale
> Principal
> Mira Costa High School
>
>
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-- 
Denise

Denise M. Robinson, TVI, Ph.D.
CEO, TechVision
Virtual Instructor for blind/low vision
Email:  yourtechvision at gmail.com <deniserob at gmail.com>
Website with hundreds of informational articles & lessons all done with
keystrokes: www.yourtechvision.com <http://yourtechvision.com>