New Era, New Education In the excerpt “Project Classroom Makeover,” Cathy Davidson, a distinguished member of Duke University’s faculty, strongly advocates for the disposal of the “one-size-fits-all” education standards, despite her standing at an Ivy League school. Through Davidson’s more personalized approach, there could be a rise in greater individual success as traditional and out-of-date techniques of teaching are replaced by more interactive and modern ways. However, a complete eradication of traditional ways of learning as Davidson prefers has its limitations when compared to an education that incorporates the new with the old. In 2003, Duke became an “Apple Digital Campus” which stirred up outcry and criticism as many thought incorporating
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Despite what credentials, or expertise one has, there will always be more insights and ideas working with a group of people. The term “crowdsourcing” was coined as technology bloomed through the world and it gave a perfect example of what should be added into learning environments. Collaboration like what the students did in the iPod experiment gave way for success and personal achievement; it was inclusive. Crowdsourcing juxtaposed to formal education shows how teaching in hierarchies paves the way for the “one-size-fits-all” model of education. When education is divided in hierarchies, students who do not excel in those subjects are labeled with learning disabilities despite their success in subjects that are deemed less important. Ranking subjects eliminates creativity and creates a tunnel vision way of thinking as people are lead down an education set up for an industrialized …show more content…
Davidson referenced Ichabod Crane, a schoolmaster in a 1820 novel, to show how similar today’s education is to the 19th century education. America has fallen behind in education, stuck on traditional ways of teaching while many countries around the world rise above United States’ statistics. There are good fundamentals to traditional education, United States would not be here without those, but with an improving society, there needs to be an improving education. Students today in lecture halls or classrooms “master what they are suppose to learn, but that’s not education” (Davidson 68). Standardized testing eliminates an effective way of learning since teachers are simply telling students what material to memorize for the utterly dull tests.Students are unprepared and at a disadvantage compared to countries with better quality of education. Education should give you assets that will guide you through your life, not assessments to use once. Ironically, Cathy Davidson occupies two seats at Duke University, a school that judges its students based on standardized tests, which gives a hypocritical feel to the article, but shows the boldness of Davidson as she tries to change
Despite what credentials, or expertise one has, there will always be more insights and ideas working with a group of people. The term “crowdsourcing” was coined as technology bloomed through the world and it gave a perfect example of what should be added into learning environments. Collaboration like what the students did in the iPod experiment gave way for success and personal achievement; it was inclusive. Crowdsourcing juxtaposed to formal education shows how teaching in hierarchies paves the way for the “one-size-fits-all” model of education. When education is divided in hierarchies, students who do not excel in those subjects are labeled with learning disabilities despite their success in subjects that are deemed less important. Ranking subjects eliminates creativity and creates a tunnel vision way of thinking as people are lead down an education set up for an industrialized …show more content…
Davidson referenced Ichabod Crane, a schoolmaster in a 1820 novel, to show how similar today’s education is to the 19th century education. America has fallen behind in education, stuck on traditional ways of teaching while many countries around the world rise above United States’ statistics. There are good fundamentals to traditional education, United States would not be here without those, but with an improving society, there needs to be an improving education. Students today in lecture halls or classrooms “master what they are suppose to learn, but that’s not education” (Davidson 68). Standardized testing eliminates an effective way of learning since teachers are simply telling students what material to memorize for the utterly dull tests.Students are unprepared and at a disadvantage compared to countries with better quality of education. Education should give you assets that will guide you through your life, not assessments to use once. Ironically, Cathy Davidson occupies two seats at Duke University, a school that judges its students based on standardized tests, which gives a hypocritical feel to the article, but shows the boldness of Davidson as she tries to change