First Post- Main Takeaways

First Post: Main Takeaways

Back for another round of Assistive Technology and happy to be diving in and learning some new things and solidifying some old! I had the opportunity to take my first Assistive Technology course this past fall and it was enlightening and has really helped me in my role as a learning centre teacher this year. The more I learn about technology the more I am realizing how empowering it can be for students on all levels.

For my first post this round:

Three main takeaways from the video "The Myth of Average":

1. The analogy of comparing classroom seats to those in a fighter jet cockpit and that these are the "seats" of our economy. The fact that more money is spent now and there has never been a time of seeing less results. There are declining test scores and high drop-out rates. In the US, 4% of drop-outs are intellectually gifted and that means each year, 50 000 of the brightest minds are being lost in the system or pushed out of a system that is just not set up to meet the needs of most. We blame the students, teachers and parents for the failures, but how much of this problem is just bad design?

2. Currently, the design of learning environments and curriculums are based on an "average student", such as the concept of age appropriate learning, but no student is able to fit into that mold. Every student has a jagged learning profile. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. If you base learning environments on "average", you are creating them for no one, essentially. These environments will not nurture individuals.

3. Designing on the idea of "average", destroys talent. People can be talented in one specific area but needs can't be met to say for example, learning to read at grade level alongside same age peers. A student with this profile can become disengaged, get bored and drop out. Current curriculum design and education structures mean weaknesses will make it hard to see and nurture talent properly. Someone could be exceptionally strong in one area but below "average" in another key area, like reading, and so if a text book is written for a student being an"average reader", that student who is talented is lost because they can't access the course material the way it's currently organized and taught. We need to be able to nurture talents and interests and meet students where they are.

One way to do this is through technology. We need to use technology to meet the needs of students. In the last few years, education has gone digital. There is no turning back so we must decide what we want technology to be and to do for us in education. Technology must be the learning equivalent of adjustable seats like in a cockpit of a fight jet. There is a chance to use technology that can make learning environments truly flexible to meet every need of students. We need to design to the edges, rather than the "average".