The Facts of Life
This is the story about four people named EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY,
ANYBODY, and NOBODY:
There was an important job to
be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but NOBODY did
it. Somebody got angry about that,
because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that
Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up
that Everybody blamed Somebody, when Nobody did what Anybody could of done.
Establishing an equal balance of accountability on the part of the student, teacher and the leaders managing these twenty first century institutions is essential.
Question of the Week
Inquiring Minds
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| The World of Work |
Undoubtedly the internet has changed The Facts of Life rhyme and
ultimately the way we see and do business in the Twenty First Century. The internet and the advancement in technological
tools have created a multitude of platforms for the caste of Everybody,
Somebody, Anybody and the once viewed Nobody to emerge on the global scene. A new way of thinking about gainful
employment and ourselves as employees has evolved from laborers during the industrial
revolution period to present day innovators, intellectuals and contenders. Like
it or not, the internet has changed the nature of work. In his presentation, How the Internet will (one day) transform government, Shirky
(2012) stated, “Being given a dashboard without a steering wheel has never been
the core promise democracy makes to its citizens.” The internet has become society’s guiding
force - transfixing ideas that would have found a home on a book shelf to
residing in homes across the world. Global
citizens of the world have transformed the internet, fifty plus years removed
from its infancy, to an equal opportunistic phenom. And, while the internet is not a person for
the advantages of work we often treat it as such. Case in point, Friedman (2007) discusses the
competitive edge other countries now have on the United States in part to the
advancement in technology. Much like these
countries who deem it necessary to invest in research development (R&D) and
education to gain a competitive edge in the global economy, workers in the
contemporary era are using the internet to reposition themselves in the
workforce.
Telecommunicating Compulsory Education
Compulsory education (K-12) has always been a delicate stage for
educational development. In generally,
it was once fair to say that teachers and students must physically show up in
the same location for teaching and learning to occur. Online learning was
left to post-secondary
programs and the ivory towers. The rule
of thumb was younger students had not acquired the necessary skills and
aptitudes to self-regulate and/or guide their own education. Despite these fundamental thoughts supported
by research, individual’s developed the concept of Cyber School. So, the idea of teaching children in a four
wall structure has now changed to teaching students via an internet
format.
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| EDUCATION becoming A WIERARCHY |
Today it is possible for a
secondary teacher (grades 6-12) to bypass after school programs, staff meetings,
classroom management, the staff lounge and the cultural components that make
schools unique. The internet affords
teachers the opportunity to choose – the four walls or the compute screen. Such choice does not make the giant leap
to assert that Cyber Schools are good forums for teaching and learning. In fact, there is much debate on the benefits
and disadvantage for students and the implication this has on their early
development as learners. Yet, Cyber
School is a business. It’s appealing to
both students and teachers who wish to avoid the traditional school
setting. Clay Shirky emphasized that the
internet has permitted new ideas to circulate and such ideas stand to generate
more disagreement (2012). Cyber School
is a prime example of Shirky’s expression.
Education today is not the Education your mother once knew.
Additionally, Cyber Schools falls within
the concept of Wierarchy “a dynamic two-way flow of power and authority based
on knowledge, trust, credibility and a focus on results, enabled by
interconnected people and technology.” (Goasduff, 2010). The thought of Cyber School being dynamic is
a matter of opinion; however, it’s difficult to deny that it matches the
underlying meaning of wierarchy. A
de-routinization of the work of teachers is ever present in the existence of
Cyber Schools. While it is challenging
to say that an online teacher is a good or even excellent teacher, we can
provide the teacher with the available online tools to maximize his/her
teaching capacity.
The Role of Leaders
Educational leaders must be cautious not to fall for every fly by
night idea. On average, Cyber Schools
are funded by school systems and serve as a component of school choice. Therefore, public funds make it possible for
many Cyber Schools to exist. Essentially,
Cyber Schools are Charter Schools. For students with particular disabilities,
Cyber School appears to be a viable educational choice. On the other hand, school leaders must ensure
that appropriate accountability measures and monitoring processes are in place
to safeguard Cyber Schools from being viewed simply as another way to use the
internet, but a method that indeed produces healthy and productive students as
well.
Certainly, the internet is a force to be reckoned with. It has allowed compulsory education teachers to
reposition themselves. The verdict on the
effectiveness of this new role on teaching and learning is still out for
deliberation.
_____________________________________________________Question of the Week
Inquiring Minds
Internet and Work
Is the internet creating undo stress in the work environment?
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