A presentation on the book "Why School".

1. By: Angela Minneci

2.  The “story” of school has
gone basically unrevised
for 150 years
 The new question: why
do we need school?
 The skills needed to
succeed in the future job
market have changed
drastically due to
advancing technology

3.  95% of 12-18 year olds go online regularly.
 77% have cell phones, 76% use social
networking
 The ability to connect,
share, collaborate and
publish exists at our
fingertips
 School-aged children are
at the forefront of this
technological revolution

4.  Options for college and future employment are undergoing
dramatic shifts
 There are now hundreds of free, open online college courses
 Employment is shifting- by 2020, it’s estimated that half of
all US employees will be independent/freelancers.

5.  A recent policy paper released by the National Council of
Teachers of English states that 21st century readers and
writers need to:
- Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
- Design/share information for global communities
- Manage and analyze multiple streams of information
- Create, critique and analyze multimedia texts
 Schools are falling behind in addressing these literacies
 They are focused on “teaching to the test” using an
increasingly irrelevant curriculum

6. • Written by business men &
policymakers
• Compete against other
countries
• Learning is quantifiable
• Common Core
curriculum
• Discovery
• Progressive thinking
• Learning: asking questions,
collaborating with others,
authentic
• Schools are nodes in a network
expanding far beyond local
walls

7.  Prepare kids for old-school
expectations and new-world
realities
 Educators rethink
classrooms in light of our
technological abundance
 Develop professional
practice addressing
traditional outcomes and
“new-world”
 Readdress assessment
 Advocate for change

8.  Remove questions that can be
answered with a simple
Google search
 Questions should inspire
critical thinking and measure
the students ability to use the
Web as well as discern good
from bad information
 Performance-based
assessment speaks more to
what students know and can
do than contrived, multiple-
choice scantrons.

9. Unlearn and relearn; rethink & develop educational practices
Six places to begin:
 Share something
 Discover the curriculum
 Talk to strangers
 Be a master learner
 Do real work for real audiences
 Transfer the power

10. Share something
Blogs, videos, websites and other
digital forms can be used for
teachers to connect with other
teachers and spread the wealth of
knowledge.
Discover the curriculum
Students engage in inquiry, ask
complex questions, and plan their
own path to finding answers.
Teachers guide students as they
pursue their own interests.

11. Talk to Strangers
So much learning can be done
online from experts such as
scientists, journalists, authors,
historians and more. Students
should learn safe internet
practices, as well.
Be a Master Learner
Effectively and efficiently
maneuver through vast
quantities of information and
find what is meaningful and
relevant.Teach students to be
the skills to be lifelong learners.

12. Do real work for real
audiences
Authentic, real-world projects
are valuable to the student and
the community.Technology can
enhance this idea as students
create podcasts, videos and
post work online to be shared.
Transfer the Power
Teachers guide students as
they take responsibility over
their own learning and
problem- solving. Students
learn about their own interests
and passions.

13.  Learn and advocate for modern, connected learning
 More resources:
- A New Culture of Learning- DouglasThomas
- The Global Achievement Gap-TonyWagner
- Rethinking Education in the Age ofTechnology- Allan
Collins/Richard Halverson