What do you think?

Are Schools Struggling to Remain Relevant in the 21st Century? Arguing the Case For Technology...
Posted by Sam Gliksman on February 4, 2011 at 4:30pm
...
The same analogy can be drawn about our educational institutions. Education can’t operate in a void. Our schools have a role within the context of greater society. In order to be effective, we have to examine the degree to which we’re preparing our students for life in that framework. The more that life in, and outside of school starts diverging, the less relevant institutional education becomes for our students.

So what's happening to our lives outside of school? Here's a quick snapshot of some recent statistics:
Around 1.5 billion mobile phones were sold worldwide in 2010, and over 20% were smartphones
9 out of 10 people in the USA own cell phones
There were over 5 billion mobile phone subscribers in 2010 – out of a world population of 6.8 billion!
More children aged 7-16 years old own a mobile phone than own a book - 85% own phones versus 72% that own a book at home
The average teen looks at a screen for more hours annually than the time they spend in class
Facebook has accumulated a user base of over 500 million registered users in 6 years
It’s estimated that on any given day, around 50% of users log in to Facebook
Communications mediums such as Facebook and Twitter are now viewed as such key elements in distributing information that they were banned in Egypt during the recent uprising
The average smartphone today has many more times the computing power than all NASA's computing resources when it first landed man on the moon

Technology is transforming every aspect of our daily lives. Even further, the ways in which children access, absorb and process information is changing as a result of their exposure to technology. When you walk into many schools however, you still find technology used sparingly. The average classroom today looks much like it may have 50 years ago. School policy usually requires that students put away any devices they own. The predominant technology used in schools today is the interactive white board – a technology used primarily by teachers at the front of the room. When technology is used it’s often to facilitate outdated, frontal teaching styles rather than to empower and enable student centered learning through the use of devices such as iPads, laptops and smartphones.

Outside of school students interact with their devices for several hours every day. When they come to campus however, they're often still expected to sit still and listen to a teacher. In one survey taken a few years ago, only 28% of students believed their schoolwork was “meaningful”. Society is in the midst of an incredible, technology based revolution yet schools remain relatively unchanged. Are they preparing children for a society that has long since vanished? Have they lost touch with the communities they serve?