Technology For It’s Own Sake

About eight years ago I spent a couple of years teaching high school. Being a nurse, and coming into the experience with no real educational background it was quite an interesting, and eye-opening experience. Needless to say, I probably learned more than my students did. One of the things that left me scratching my head was the approach the school system took toward education. Tons of money was spent on technology and teachers were required to have at least one “technology lesson” each week. That lesson had to be so designated on your weekly lesson plan. Talk about misguided! As I write this I still see a lot of the same things happening in education — at all levels. And it’s just plain dumb. Let’s explore this a bit.

Is it for Education or Business?

In the early 1990’s as I was preparing to wrap up my MBA I was informed by my advisor that I still needed to take a basic statistics course. Now, that would seem a reasonable expectation were it not for the fact that I had already completed two advanced statistics courses. Being a bit obstinate, I asked why it was necessary for me to take a course designed to prepare me for courses that I had already taken and passed (quite well, I might add.) The response – not surprisingly – was that it was a necessary part of the degree and, therefore, could not be waived. That introductory statistics course, the one designed to prepare me for higher level courses, was the last course I took before graduating.

Is Education “All That”

I had a wonderful opportunity to talk with a woman(we’ll call her Jane) who has accomplished several things that I have only dreamed of. She has developed a new approach to an old and vexing problem many nurses face, she contributed to the development of a new medical device, she has been published in peer-reviewed journals, and has spoken around the world before thousands of people to introduce other professionals to both her new technique and to the medical device. She can confidently say that the approach she developed is being used in health care settings around the world. And she has an associate’s degree — the minimum level of education required to become a nurse.

The State of the MOOC

Two recent articles about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) got my attention this week.

Fail?

The first article brings to the fore the reality that only about 7% of those who start a MOOC course complete it. This is, of course, a major concern for educators, given that completion rates are the major metric for colleges. It is completely understandable that many would see that number and conclude that MOOCs are failing. I’m not sure I agree with that assessment for several reasons.

So, What’s This Site All About?

Hello, and welcome to my little corner of the web … yes, I know that’s a bit cliché but … well, what can I say?

Anyway, I am a doctoral student in Education (Nursing education to be precise) and have decided to use a blogging platform as a means for storing ideas and thoughts related to topics that might be useful as I move toward my dissertation. And, it’s a great way to begin stretching my writing legs, solidify ideas, and perhaps my thinking to a bit of public scrutiny, as well.