I get the feeling that Dewey would have really liked the 'all the world's a stage' speech from As You Like It - everyone as an individual contributes to the society as a whole.
I also think it's funny that his arguments in favor of place based education and against the 'sage on the stage' are still relevant with the whole Google/Wiki issue. However, what I find really fascinating is how the 'sage on the stage' developed BECAUSE of the technological limits of the times, and how we are now trying to get away from it because technology has advanced. Back in the Middle Ages, they didn't have the technology to rapidly reproduce texts and other sources of information, so the professor would read the textbook to the class and lecture about it - that way they could all share the one book. I think Dewey would have suffered an apoplexy if anyone had suggested such a model to him, and yet, learning did take place, so the model is not totally ineffective.
CEC - This is profound stuff. How did you know our Top Secret Plan To Link Dewey To Technology? Looking forward to hearing what you think after tomorrow's all-day class. KF
ReplyDeleteHey CEC! You made such a good point here: how teaching has evolved through (and without) technology. I had never thought of this before. Lecturing definitely has its purposes (especially when the lecturer is extremely knowledgeable and interesting). But, in this day and age--as you point out--the teachers need to change with the technology.
ReplyDeleteI'll take a slightly different direction from the first posts. Sage on the stage? I'm more of a fan of the guide on the side! I posted in my blog about the idea of a teacher as a creative facilitator, somebody who fosters and promotes learning while allowing their students to learn through experience while making mistakes. For as many times as you can lecture students on a lesson, it won't stick until they learn or experience it by themselves.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'll keep this next part simple: teachers need to be adaptive. It's as simple as that. Our society has evolved to such a technology based society, that students need to be computer literate, and if our teachers are not, how can the students? If you don't believe me, think about this: how many hard copies of papers or assignments have we actually turned in during these three weeks? One possibly two? I guess it wasn't that short after all....