On Education

I've always been interested in the field of education. Whether online or offline, this has something that I feel deeply about, especially since going through more than a decade of it. The fact that I have parents and close friends for teachers might have helped as well. However, the more I see of it, the more disillusioned I become of it. My reasons are best summed up here:

Takeaways:

1. Even if education goes online, it is not likely that the fundamental problems would go away. In fact, the problems inherent in the system might be exacerbated online due to the need for standardisation and the one-size-fits-all approach most educational institutions adopt so as to accomodate a wider audience.

2. This approach to education is highly radical and goes against the grain of many schools. But that said, cyberspace is the best place for that to happen. This is because there is so much interactivity and rich media in there that the online lecture (sadly, the only use schools can find for such a versatile platform) is really not even scraping the surface. As things stand, there are many schools that are beginning to use rich media to cater to their students, but it is not enough. The current system is too outdated.

3. School administrators and leaders need to let their teachers and staff use the Internet and other rich media to teach and educate their students, rather than prevent them from doing so. There also needs to be a shift in focus on education. It should not be on trying to make children academically smart, but rather should focus on making them better people.