Response to Beyond Technology

The article reflects on the high impact technology is having on education. It addresses and stresses the believed outcomes that lie ahead for the 21^st century learner. The article address the changes technology has had in the work place in the last few years and the impact it has made for workers making working from common place. It then continues with a variety of models that “should be” for example; students “should be” expected to create knowledge products to publish, students, “should be” expected to communicate in a global market, students, “should be” able to design their own learning and be responsible for that learning. Although I agree with the fundamental basis for this article I do believe a few factors have been over looked. First, we forget we are teaching children and although they are eager and quick to learn they all develop at a different pace and all are not developmentally ready to take responsibility for their learning at the same time. I believe that there still is a vast gap in the technology that is available in school varying equality even within a school district. That gap grows even greater within the family. My family knows and practices the responsibility of providing the tools to make education the best it can be. While my sister cannot afford a computer for her home and does not wish to have one because she believes her children get enough of computers at school and she does at work. I work with teachers that feel just the opposite the kids are on the computers at home and do not need to be on it at school. It is this backwards thinking that will make the information highway come to a crawl in regards to education. The private sector (lawmakers, businesses, idealist) want to see computers in every dark empty corner of our country. The reality is there is not enough funding to make the education playing field equal even if 100 Bill Gates and Steve Jobs dumped all their money into the system. Until the classroom is transformed from a more traditional look and takes on a different look (telecommunicating to school) I am afraid it will be difficult to instill a since of progress equal to that in the privet business sector.