My sister-in-law Melissa, sent me the link to this video on my last post. I watched it and thought it was fascinating, so I'm reposting it here. After doing a lot of reading and research in preparation to home school our kids, I do believe that children pretty much educate themselves, and parents/teachers are there to provide resources and encouragement.
Two things I loved about this video:
1. Can Tamil speaking 12-year-old children in a South-Asian village teach themselves biotechnology in English on their own?
RESULTS AFTER 2 MONTHS:
12-year old girl:
"Apart from the fact that improper replication of the DNA molecule causes genetic disease, we've understood nothing else."
2. The Grandmother cloud. :)
Check out the video, you won't be disappointed.
2 comments:
My feelings were mixed after watching this video. Parly I feel confirmed in my belief that children can teach themselves, but partly I'm worried about the growing trend in "virtual" education. In classrooms all over the world there is a major increase in the use of computers for everything from virtual field trips to virtual chemistry labs. Which is cool in a way, but I worry it's replacing child/adult interactions and eliminating real life experiences, both of which are so important to a child's development. (sorry, I'm climbing off my soap box now!)
I agree that child/adult interactions are very important, and I don't believe we should replace them with a "virtual reality" type of education; however, that's not the message I took from this video.
What struck me most here, was the reminder of the amazing potenial that children (and adults too) possess, that often times gets covered up or shut down completely by the current educational system. I do not believe that teachers (anyone who teaches, whether formally or not) should be replaced by machines. But I do believe that teachers should rethink their methods to make certain that the potential of students is recognised and encouraged.
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