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Creating the optimal worker
As compulsory education spread. The desire to have a strong workforce became the focus of education. Some might argue that is still the main outcome of education today.
While the focus of what is being taught and strategies have changed having a work prepared graduate is still a very high priority. -
Edison's work with motion pictures
Thomas Edison believed motion pictures could be helpful in a students education. He also believed lazy students could learn something from studying worker bees. Imagining education without videos today seems impossible. Very few days pass in my classroom where a video isn't used to add to student learning. -
Computer Era
With the personal computer, it can be argued that the modern era of education began. Students would begin to have more knowledge available to them than an entire library would house. -
The Computer Lab
When I was in middle school and high school in the late 90's and early 2000's the majority of the time students did not have access to technology. All of my teachers had a personal computer in the classroom, but it was still very rare to have a projector linked to the computer instead the overhead projector guided most note taking in the classroom. -
Computer on Wheels
From the early 2000's to the day before schools shut down for the pandemic schools have varying degrees of computer access for students. My wealthy suburban school did not have 1-1 computer access until the pandemic and we needed to send a device home with every student. Instead we had COWs and calendars and teachers trying to hold on to computers in their classroom everyday. -
The Covid Era
With the closure of physical buildings during the Covid pandemic, a giant shift had to take place with in education. Kansas was a lucky state with a determined future from Mid March to the end of the school year. All learning would be remote. This allowed teachers to come up with a plan for the last quarter of the year, and in some cases students thrived with learning from home, while others floundered with challenges like no access to internet, difficult home lives, and loss of loved ones. -
The Hybrid Era
My district for the 2020-2021 school year adopted hybrid learning for much of the year to allow for more social distancing. Teachers attempted to reach learners in the classroom and at home at the same time. Some tried to teach the same lesson to all, others created an at home learning and in person lesson and others created learning stations that could be accessed by small groups in either location. -
The Post Covid Era
What does the future hold for education emerging from the Covid era shut downs. The forced integration of technology made many teachers and learners more comfortable digitally. Creating opportunities for collaboration and teamwork seems to be a common need among learners following the time of isolation. Many great learning practices and lessons can come from this challenging time period. As a society we must grasp onto these for the future generations.