In the first episode of The Chromebook Classroom podcast, John Sowash interviews Cyrus Mistry, Group Product Manager, Android & Chromebooks for Education. The episode is full of interesting nuggets about the history and future of Chromebooks, but my favorite part was something that Cyrus said about education in this information age. It happens at about the 20 minute mark:
A teacher that used to have a section on learning the 50 capitals of the U.S., steps back and says “You know what? having all of these kids already have that answer makes me want to give them a different type of skill: maybe more problem solving, maybe more critical thinking, maybe less memorization, maybe . . . ” Maybe it reminds them, that when the kid leaves or when they graduate, they’re all going to have Google in their pocket and the answer to every question. So what they won’t have, though, is that ability to critically think and to analyze . . . We see [the teachers] moving to higher order learning.”
I think this is a really powerful point. Educational technology is not an opportunity for substitution. It is not an opportunity for augmentation. Nor is it an opportunity for modification. It is an opportunity for redefinition. (SAMR Model)
Check out the full episode below and follow John Sowash at @jrSowash.
