In a new age of information, rapid innovation, and globalization, how can we prepare our children to compete? Once the envy of the world, American schools are now in trouble. Test scores show our kids lag far behind their peers from other industrialized countries, and as the divide between rich and poor grows wider, the goal of getting all kids ready for college and the workforce gets harder by the day. How can the latest research help us fix education in America? Can the science of learning—including new insights from neuroscientists, psychologists, and educators—reveal how kids’ brains work and tell us which techniques are most likely to engage and inspire growing minds? What role should technology play in the classroom? Teachers, students, parents, and scientists take center stage as NOVA explores a new vision for the “School of the Future.”
The “School of the Future” video emphasizes the positive impact technological advancements have in helping educators see what teaching methods work best for their classes. The video shows how psychological research in a child's thinking patterns can provide supporting information in finding ways to instruct school districts with socio-economic challenges. The example of using an EEG Cap to monitor a child's thinking patterns and the child’s growth over the course of a new reading program shows how through parental involvement, students can increase their learning capabilities. The latest research can especially help improve education in America, as the data and its conclusions are providing key insights into useful methods and programs that are working for students. Based on this data, schools can confidently implement different criteria and learning strategies into the broad curriculum as well as everyday lessons. An example would be the use of GRIT in Pennsylvania schools. With this thinking and motivating attitude, students push themselves to achieve more, and they use this mentality to strive to write and think more clearly.
Based on psychological testing, this approach to teaching a class helps students in a positive way as it encourages them to want to help themselves. I think it's important to look at this research because it can help improve current methods as well as develop new ways of teaching students. Technology in the classroom can easily be a part of new teaching strategies especially because it allows students the opportunity to work independently and ultimately help themselves. Through indirect ways such as research for homework to a direct presence in a classroom, such as Google notebooks, technology can drastically help students understand and grow their own set of skills. Since they are able to use a familiar tool, like a tablet, they are more drawn to activities involving technology because it is a major component to their everyday, modern lives. Since students are comfortable with technology, they can be creative and manipulate technology for their own needs, giving them the chance to build up their skills and learn new abilities through technology-based activities. As a result, technology helps students by giving them the support they understand and need to grow as learners who will be able to apply their skills both inside the classroom and out in the real world.