We also need to recognise that, largely, those teachers who use technology the most effectively and lead the way with its use are also, by and large, excellent teachers with or without the technology.This helps us see what many of us appreciate already: the one biggest element of improving education, making learning more creatively inclined and entrepreneurial, is the teacher. It's not curriculum, class sizes (though smaller class sizes make the teacher's life easier) or even assessment. This is something I've been reporting back from research for two years (and which I've been blown out on more times than I can count). It's not about letting students lead the way with technology and "show us teachers" how it's done. Students are generally quite narrow in their knowledge of how to harness technology or creative venture.No, it's how teachers and parents teach that is important. It is, to use a piece of edu-jargon, pedagogy, both at school and at home.
Peter Horsfield on 29 Aug 13Ann Patchett is a novelist of high caliber. She has written bestselling fiction and non-fiction books, ranging from terrorism to friendship. Her bookstore in her hometown, Nashville, is both an entrepreneurial and corporate social responsibility move in the hope of reviving the bookstore industry. Now, Parnassus is thriving in spite of the surge of e-books and the looming threat of physical books getting outdated. Ann is not just a writer but also an activist in the sense that she refused to let the book trade die. This author has guts.
