“When kids can get their lessons from the
internet, what’s left for classroom instructors to do?”
By: Michael Godsey
Published: March 25, 2015, The Atlantic; http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/03/the-deconstruction-of-the-k-12-teacher/388631/
Level of Difficulty: ***
WATCH, READ AND DISCUSS OR THINK ABOUT:
- Sugata Mitra: https://www.ted.com/speakers/sugata_mitra
QUESTIONS
1.
By
describing the utopia that is the classroom of the future, the writer is trying
to convey the message that………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2.
Why
do teachers of the future need to be pretty near perfect?
3.
Read
as far as the asterisk and decide whether the following are true or false:
·
The
writer is concerned about the future
·
The
writer feels his training has prepared him well for the future
·
The
increasing use of technology in the classroom will make teachers experts in
their fields
4.
The
two factors that are changing the role of the teacher in the learning process
are:
5.
Which concluding statement is more appropriate for
the paragraph beginning “And the teachers unions”
·
The
crowdsourcing of teaching material via the internet is inevitable
·
The
crowdsourcing of teaching material is big business
·
The
crowdsourcing of teaching material is humanitarian
·
The
crowdsourcing of teaching material was bound to take place
6.
The
easy access to material via the internet enables modern teachers to focus more
on…………………………..; something they weren’t able to do in the past.
7.
Which
of the statements below would best follow the sentence beginning” Or to put
more euphemistically…”?
·
That
is to say, the teacher needs to guide, control and help when needed
·
That
is to say, the teacher needs to let students get on with the lesson
·
That
is to say, modern technology is in and the teacher is out.
8.
The
major advantage of the flipped learning model is that it enables……………………….
9.
What
is the prognosis for blended learning?
10.
Project
based learning is both intellectually and psychologically advantageous as
students in such a system are…………………………………..on the one hand
and…………………………………….on the other.
11.
Why
is the system of flipped learning being deserted?
12.
After
studying Edmodo, the writer discovered that there was in fact no need for him
to………………………………………………………………………………………………..
13.
In
what way does Activate Instruction replicate teachers?
14. Read down as far as the asterisk (“Try
five or ten”) and decide whether the following are true or false.
·
The
sharing of teaching material via the internet is called Netflix for teachers
·
The
sharing of teaching material via the internet has some definite upsides
·
The
sharing of teaching material via the internet encourages collaboration
·
The
sharing of teaching material via the internet simplifies teaching
·
The
writer is critical of sites like sharemylesson.com and ListenCurrent.com
15.
The
writer feels that commonsense demands that he……………………………………………………
16.
The
writer feels he could be pro active in the new system and carve out a place for
himself by………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
17.
Read
the paragraph beginning “I looked through the current trends”. Which of the
topic sentences below would best fit this paragraph?
·
Scripted
instruction has some definite advantages
·
Scripted
instruction raises standards in education
·
Scripted
instruction is more inclusive in its reach
·
Scripted
instruction is efficient and egalitarian
18.
Read
Sugate Mitra’s views on the future of education. What are the possible
disadvantages of such a system? Personal answer.
19. Read the remainder of the text and
decide whether the following are true or
false?
·
The
writer is very concerned about the future of teaching and the teacher
·
The
writer is completely against the new high tech teaching environment
·
The
writer has certain reservations about the new teaching environment
·
The
writer feels the teacher should have an important role to play in the new
teaching environment
WRITING TASK
You have been asked to comment on
the text you have just read by the writer. What do you tell him? Listen to
Sugata Mitra’s talks on TED and write about where you stand in relation to the
future of education. What do you feel about the use of technology and how it
should be used? Do you believe in the system of blended learning?
THE DECONSTRUCTION OF THE K12 TEACHER KEY AND
TEACHER’S NOTES
This fascinating text paints a somewhat
disturbing picture concerning the future of education and while accepting the
undeniable advantages of the extensive sharing of material made possible by the
internet, hints at some serious drawbacks. He also points out that the utopia
we think is being created may in fact be a dystopia. The reading task should
lead to an exciting writing activity as the topic is so controversial.
1.
The
role of the public school teacher is shifting from “content expert” to
curriculum facilitator”.
2.
Because
the internet pretty much supplies everything we need.
3.
T,
F, F
4.
The
ever increasing ease of access to the web and the fact that the intellectual
property that once belonged to teachers is now openly available on the
internet. (The emergence of the internet is not an answer because mentioning
the ease of access to the web makes it unnecessary)
5.
The
second
6.
Individualized
instruction
7.
The
first
8.
Students
to gain control of the learning process
9.
Half
of high school classes will be delivered online by 2019
10.
Curious,
engaged / Collaborative, social (Not all the points in the chart apply to
students. The learning is self organized.)
11.
Because
there are now thousands of professional videos to choose from
12.
Compile
all the resources
13.
It
organizes the video lessons and puts them together in a sensible order
14.
F,
T, F, T, F
15.
Appreciate
the modern efficiency of today’s resources, and reinvest his time as their
enthusiastic guide on the side
16.
Trying
to make six figures on the open market at teacherspayteachers.com or as a
curriculum designer for a private company
17.
The
last one. The first is too general, the second and the third only cover part of
the paragraph.
18.
Socialization will suffer, children won’t be
able to play sports, games etc, they will not get enough face to face contact,
the nature of man will change, people may end up lonely and cut off from each
other and this could lead to all manner of psychological problems.
19.
T,
F, T, T
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