Digital publication | Page 54

I grabbed my phone again, determined to find more information. I entered the web and started searching. Tap. Clickity-clack-clack. Enter. I looked at the information I had just gathered. According to the NAESP scientific survey, students spend on average of 14,040 hours in school, not including college. That’s a lot of time spent in school and begs the I grabbed my phone again, determined to find more information. I entered the web and started searching. Tap. Clickity-clack-clack. Enter. I looked at the information I had just gathered. According to the NAESP scientific survey, students spend on average of 14,040 hours in school, not including college. That’s a lot of time spent in school and begs the question is the time well spent and worth it? Malcom Gladwell, a journalist, and author once said that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. Anders Ericsson, a psychologist, and researcher from Florida State University shows that his theory was false.  Anders claims that Malcom overlooked the quality of the practice and the importance of deliberate practice. We spend over 10,000 hours in schools, but is that quality practice or quantity practice?

  

47

“…we're now running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make. And the result is that we are educating people out of their creative capacities,” stated Sir Ken Roberson. Have you ever drawn a picture where the sun is purple, or the sky is green? Our school system came to be to meet the needs of industrialism. These ancient ways are still in today’s education systems. Creativity is defined as the use of the imagination or original ideas. Creativity is achieved

Rather than writing essays, we could start our own blogs and share our ideas to a wider audience. Instead of memorizing dates in a history textbook, let our own curiosity drive us to learn about ancient history and have us make a timeline of what we learned. Additionally, rather than completing problems from a textbook, have students step into the shoes of accountants for a day and solve the riddle of how much taxes someone owes. There are ways to integrate and access technology that is cost efficient and lead to the development of creative minds. These things

are irreplaceable. School could be more exciting for kids as their imagination grows beyond our world.

Our educational system provides the skills to become a literate and informed member of society.

I fell back down into a hole of deep thoughts and let my phone rest on my lap. School has its disadvantages. Steve Jobs was never a straight A-student, and neither were many entrepreneurs. This could be because our schools are still using the ancient tactics that are far outdated. We have the technology that would allow for student engagement authentic real-life application. Why not use it?