Conner Ingalls
NMD 200
Project 1
10-03-2020
Local Online Collaborative Learning
A commonality between a lot of people my age is that we all believe to be the last group of students that were taught cursive. Cursive is a skill I use everyday, and I think it’s strange that my little brother, who is only six years younger than me, never even learned to write his signature. I wonder, why such an essential skill is no longer being taught? This question led me to think a little deeper about our education system. I found a poll run by Representative Heidi Sampson, Maine, that asked the question “Do you think elementary schools in Maine should teach cursive handwriting?” the response was 94 percent “Yes,” and 6 percent “No.” I asked my younger brother once if he had any interest in learning cursive, and to my surprise he said he did. Kyle, my brother, wanted to learn cursive, but it was never offered to him. After asking my brother, I started to wonder about the things I wanted to learn in school that weren’t offered to me.
My dad and mom used to tell me stories about going to woodshop class in high school, and growing up that was something I thought was interesting. Sadly, my high school did not offer a shop class. Our middle school did however, but it was not sufficient by any means. I still enjoyed learning about carpentry, so mostly what I learned was from my own experiences with wood working with my grandmother. Through the years, I have taught myself the craft, but always outside of school. Growing up, I also had access to the internet. I would look up how to carve, techniques, and other things on YouTube. YouTube was tremendously helpful, but I believe having a hands on mentor, one that would be found in a high school woodshop class, would’ve been much more beneficial. I was lucky to have my grandmother who could be that mentor for me, but what about the other students who aren’t as lucky? I think there needs to be a redesign in our education system that better integrates the convenience of technology, such as YouTube, with in-person lessons/demonstrations.
With this redesign, students would be able to learn topics that interest them, through online lessons and connecting with local teachers who are educated in that specific field. If a system like this was put in place, people like my brother could be given the opportunity to learn what they want, even if it isn’t available at their school. I propose a website, similar to YouTube, that connects students with teachers and other local schools, professors, and experts capable and willing to teach the youth skills they want to learn when they are young. This website could have functions like zoom to connect electronically to accommodate for coronavirus precautions.
It is clear that unavailable teachers and classes are a problem in today’s world. In my family of five, all of my family members have interests they wished were offered in their curriculums growing up. For my brother, it was electric guitar, my Dad, automotive tech, and my Mom always talks about how she wishes culinary classes were still taught at my high school. I’m sure a lot of students find themselves in similar situations. Wanting to pursue an academic passion and not having the opportunity is very frustrating, and it’s a problem that can be solved simply.
Having a website or tool capable of facilitating local online learning would have a great impact on students’ grades, and interest in school. When I was choosing a topic to write about in this paper, I had to think hard about what I wanted to change in the world. I realized that the American education system has some flaws, and I thought to tackle the one I could relate to the most. I believe a redesign of our education is imperative because our youth are not being taught important skills they want to learn, and it is entirely not their fault. implementing a website that connects students with teachers and online material requires very little effort in terms of physical demands, and no new infrastructure would need to be built, since local high schools could be used to host classes, and the rest would be on the web.
Humans have always had a desire to learn, and by not offering our people the opportunities to explore, create, and educate, we are robbing them of their human nature. I value education very highly, as it is something that is quintessential to our society on a global scale. Allowing students to learn subjects that are only offered at their local high school is unfair, especially with the capabilities of the internet. The largest foreseeable issue with this redesign that I can imagine is participation between other local high schools, teachers, and districts to work together for the sake of the students. There might be a disconnect with technology, because older generations are unfamiliar with it. Districts already communicate between one another (think snow days), but in my experience, I have never seen a student from my high school learn something from a teacher outside our school. With four other large public high schools within 20 miles of mine, I thought that was interesting. Using the resources included in those four schools, we could potentially cast a huge net of knowledge for students interested in learning subjects not offered to them. I imagine, if a system like this was in place, my little brother could’ve learned cursive, I could’ve found a woodshop class in high school, and thousands of other students would be given an opportunity to be able to pursue their interests. Expanding on this idea of a local online collaborative learning website, I believe it will also preserve many other skills some of our local schools have deemed obsolete, such as cursive. Being one of the last groups of students from my school to have learned how to write in cursive, I do not see it coming back in the future. My brother is in the minority of students who want to learn cursive, because our education system has taught them from the beginning of their schooling that it was not important. It’s a shame, to me, that future children will continue to grow up believing that cursive is not a necessary skill. What will they do when they have to sign documents? I recall needing to know how to write my signature as early as the sixth grade. Thankfully, our education system is still teaching the youth to write with pencil and paper, but when will that be deemed as obsolete as its brother cursive? With the prevalence of technology in the classroom, that is not as ludicrous as it may sound. This is why, I think its important to localize our education system, and link our public schools through the internet, and connect students with a broad spectrum of tools they can use to preserve, further, and enjoy their education.
The creation of this website/ in-person learning hybrid needs to be designed to meet fundamental human needs before it can be successful. For this, see Maslow’s hierarchy of needs above. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is commonly shown as a pyramid, and contains what Maslow believes are the necessities all humans need to reach self-fulfillment. At the base of the pyramid, is physiological needs. Physiological needs pertain to very basic human needs such as water, food, sleep, and shelter. Above physiological needs is the need for safety. Everyone needs financial security, personal security, access to employment, and property. In the middle of the pyramid is love. As humans achieve the lower, more basic necessities, they start to need friendship, family, and a sense of belonging. At the top, is esteem and self-actualization. Humans require respect, recognition and freedom. Self-actualization is the desire to become the best person one can be, and is achieved after all the other subsequent tiers are met. I believe local online collaborative learning can accommodate these values at its core. I think primary, this redesign can focus on safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization. Since physiological needs are mostly in the hands of the individual, It is unlikely that a website could provide adequately. However, a strategy to combat this is to design this website in such a way that informs and educates about this need. This could be in the form of student/teacher check-ins, or text boxes found on the front page that reminds the viewer to hydrate, eat, and get enough sleep.
I believe this redesign of our education system is imperative to teaching our children by providing them with a next-generation learning experience. Having access to in-person examples mixed with the seemingly unlimited amount of content on the internet is a remodel that stands to benefit millions. The first step towards reaching this goal is to open more communication between local schools, through all grade levels. By tearing down these district walls, we will enable our children, and ourselves, to reach an education we control. Wanting to learn a skill but not having it offered at your school will become a thing of the past, and many students will be able to follow academics they find interesting, on top of required material. This redesign focuses on convenience for the student, keeping them at the core with Maslow’s pyramid. After all, designing technology for humans should have their best interests in mind.
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