Submitted by Bob Collier (not verified) on April 13, 2008 - 09:15.
Hi, Jeff
Yes, I agree. Other changes need to occur for most parents to consider educating children outside the school system. At the moment, essentially what's happening is that parents who are interested in home education are more easily able to take it on and, as they do, that will encourage more parents to consider it. It's clear to me that home education is no longer the preserve of those who are anti-school - it's a trend that appeals to many kinds of people who are not necessarily critics of the school system. I wasn't unhappy with my son's school - in itself it was a huge improvement on the school I went to when I was his age - but in terms of what my son was learning in the classroom in the Digital Age relative to what he was learning out of it, going to school was actually holding back his education. So now my son is at home learning at the speed of thought instead of wasting his valuable time in school learning at the speed of watching paint dry and we're both happy with that.
I appreciate that many people are working hard to create bona fide 21st century schools, but the situation, I believe, is really beyond what schools or the 'home education movement' want. Other changes that are occurring will have an effect. Perhaps the big test for the school system will come when today's 'digital natives' grow up and have children of their own and need to consider *their* education. It will be interesting to see how they vote. Perhaps by then a consideration of school or home education will be irrelevant; perhaps technology will have made some form of pick and mix 'remote' learning the norm in all areas of society instead. Who knows? Exciting times for education in any event.
Homeschooling and Web 2.0
Submitted by Bob Collier (not verified) on April 13, 2008 - 09:15.
Hi, Jeff
Yes, I agree. Other changes need to occur for most parents to consider educating children outside the school system. At the moment, essentially what's happening is that parents who are interested in home education are more easily able to take it on and, as they do, that will encourage more parents to consider it. It's clear to me that home education is no longer the preserve of those who are anti-school - it's a trend that appeals to many kinds of people who are not necessarily critics of the school system. I wasn't unhappy with my son's school - in itself it was a huge improvement on the school I went to when I was his age - but in terms of what my son was learning in the classroom in the Digital Age relative to what he was learning out of it, going to school was actually holding back his education. So now my son is at home learning at the speed of thought instead of wasting his valuable time in school learning at the speed of watching paint dry and we're both happy with that.
I appreciate that many people are working hard to create bona fide 21st century schools, but the situation, I believe, is really beyond what schools or the 'home education movement' want. Other changes that are occurring will have an effect. Perhaps the big test for the school system will come when today's 'digital natives' grow up and have children of their own and need to consider *their* education. It will be interesting to see how they vote. Perhaps by then a consideration of school or home education will be irrelevant; perhaps technology will have made some form of pick and mix 'remote' learning the norm in all areas of society instead. Who knows? Exciting times for education in any event.