Lifelong Learning 2.0

This summer, I have been working on several creative projects that I wrote proposals for this Spring.  There is one additional project that I was assigned to do which has not been as exciting.  In fact, I am having a hard time with it.  It involves working on pacing guides to accompany textbooks in the core areas, for grades K-8.  The pacing guides designate which chapters address state standards.  The chapters are paced out for each week of the school year, with key questions from the state framework, along with accompanying assessments and answer keys.  These pacing guides provide the lesson plans, allowing teachers to be on the same page without having to recreate the wheel.

The problem?  The textbooks.

Earlier this year, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested the idea of replacing California’s public school textbooks with open-source materials and digital curriculum.  I love the basic idea, which allows the students to have access to current information, saves money, and provides a platform for teachers and students to collaborate on lessons.  Of course, there are obvious obstacles that would have to be overcome, but the vision is exciting.

I like what Lucas Ames has to say in his blog, Entrepreneurial Teaching,

Innovative entrepreneurs create new value, but in the process destroy the value proposition of an existing business.  A good way to look at this is through the lens of music.  From records, 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, to mp3s new innovation destroyed older business models, but also provided tremendous benefits to the consumer and the music industry. In many ways I believe our education system is in need of more entrepreneurial teachers to ‘creatively destroy’ it.

I am interested in a new vision of education at our school.  How can we creatively destroy the traditional model of textbooks updated every 6 years, tons of worksheets, and old school methods?

Ames also quotes Bill Gates, who had this to say:

Training the workforce of tomorrow with the high schools of today is like trying to teach kids about today’s computers on a 50-year-old mainframe. It’s the wrong tool for the times.

Our high schools were designed fifty years ago to meet the needs of another age. Until we design them to meet the needs of the 21st century, we will keep limiting–even ruining–the lives of millions of Americans every year.

What are your thoughts on this?

In an effort to pilot a new approach, I ditched textbooks last year in the areas of science and social studies. It required a lot of extra work in lesson planning.  It was a challenge to creatively design projects that were inquiry-based, full of opportunities for writing and critical thinking, and still met state standards.  It would have been great to have digital curriculum to access and opportunities to collaborate with other teachers on those lesson plans.

I don’t want to use those pacing guides I have to work on, traditional textbooks and worksheets with students. I want to use innovative teaching methods and integrated technology, to engage students in lifelong learning habits, while preparing them in 21st century skills.  I would love to work collaboratively with others to create project learning and thoughtful assessments.

Do you share this passion? Are you designing online units, collaborative lessons, or inquiry-based projects?  I would love to learn how you make it work at your school.

Have you fantasized about ditching textbooks altogether?

What’s one step that you plan to take this year to be innovative in how you teach students?

Creative Commons Photo Attribution:  June 15, by Little Yiye