Learn to unlearn (Chris Betcher - ACEC 2010)

Image via Wikipedia

Chris Betcher, in this keynote presentation, talks about the importance of learning to unlearn, and seeing the writing on the wall. He argues that the world that the education system was designed to serve, is no longer the same world, and the system no longer works. This presentation was an energetic call for education reform, which echoes many of the other presenters at the conference.

He looks at what Google has done since 1998 and the influence they have had on everyday lives of people around the world. Could we have predicted what the world would be like, 12 years ago?
What will the world look like 12 years from now? What are we preparing the students of today for?

Looking at education, Betcher referred to a statement by Papert: "We need to produce people who know how to act when they're faces with situations for which they were not specifically prepared" (Seymour Papert). Education is preparing students for things that we cannot predict will happen. At the moment education creates conservative learners who do not question the fundamental aspect of what school is, who follow the curriculum and live within the current confines of school without question.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Ubiquitous Technology in Learning - a myth (deangroom.wordpress.com)