Problems with Education - Very Funny Video - YouTube - 7 views
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Martin Rodriguez on 21 Mar 14I ran into this video a few semesters ago and began thinking about my educational experience at the university I attended. After careful examination of the video two questions emerged. Do we really need 4-6 years of additional education to be fully prepared for a career? Did the college/university you attended prepare you for the career you currently have? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRnHlQo6Sx0
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Sean Getchell on 24 Mar 14Martin, That's an interesting point. I was actually talking about this with my boss the other day. I have learned the majority about my job and job field by working. The degrees didn't necessarily provide the knowledge I needed, but my English M.A. was an expensive piece of paper that opened up a wide variety of professional opportunities. In some cases, I have to admit that the additional schooling can be helpful. In the case of this particular graduate degree (M.Ed in Educational Technology), I needed the additional framework so I could have a mental foundation to build my professional toolbox. I am not in a classroom outside of corporate training, so it was crucial that I developed a basic understanding of the concepts and theory necessary to be successful. Overall, though, I have to say that professional experience typically far outweighs additional schooling.
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Maricela Gonzalez on 24 Mar 14Nice video post Martin. Regurgitation of information and things like rote learning is what the video is stating is what education tend to be about. I think the example that he gives about two years of college Spanish, will only leave you with very limited Spanish basics- is pretty accurate. The comedian stated that the vocabulary that is taught in the classroom will be forgotten by students so why learn it in the first place. Although I don't necessarily agree with that statement, I can see how not all terms will be remembered. I feel that I did a lot of rote learning back in my days, but have since advanced in that department of learning- ha, ha. I still believe that rote learning is really good for some things such as multiplication facts- where either you know it or you don't and no abstract thinking need apply. But I feel that within certain contents actual reading is way better than simply just teaching vocabulary terms. It's funny because he's basically saying let's cut out the middle man…he'll provide a diploma almost like a drive by experience…if only it were that easy. I feel that this video would definitely be a better way to get the message across to the audience better than just stating the objective of the message. Web 2.0 technologies are critical to make the thinker think outside of the box. I thoroughly enjoyed your web post for the week- thanks. Here is another cool video link on a fun way to tackle teaching by introducing gaming: http://youtu.be/4vZhWUHPjbw My two responses to the messages by my peers- Rene, I agree that we are better able to learn from a more personalized instruction. That is why it is fascinating to me to understand the logic behind instructionall design and how we are supposed to make our modules conversational in nature. How we should use avatars to bring out that personal feel. Even though it's not the same thing, it still is a step i
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Rene Zuniga on 24 Mar 14Great video Martin. Thanks for sharing. Most of us "highly educated" individuals, know that no years of schooling will make you smarter than another individual. In my short life I have met countless of people who are SO intelligent but have never had many years of formal education. My mother is a prime example. She is much more smarter than me, yet, in the eyes of society, she is illiterate. I, on the other hand, am "highly educated". As a society, we need to recognize that education is not just a degree. We need to value individuals who make contributions in different ways. Nonetheless, we also need to understand that we are facing an education crisis. More people need to be formally educated. If we fail to get educated, our society will grow weaker and our standard of living will go down the drain. education may not provide all the answers, but that "little paper" is a great investment.
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Martin Rodriguez on 24 Mar 14Maricela, there were some things I did not agree with as well in the video but what I wanted to point out is that many times we get so focus on education and forget to pay attention to the actual career. I have heard students say they are getting a particular degree because that is what their parents want them to do. Yet, they are not doing what they want to do, many times that could be earning a certificate or an associates that does not require a 4-6 year degree.
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Martin Rodriguez on 24 Mar 14Sean, my bachelor degree is in History yet I have worked at the University from a work-study position to now a director and adjunct instructor. Much like you I have learned most of what I know on the job, the M.Ed in Educational Technology was intended to help me move up the latter and it has helped since the job I currently hold requires a masters degree. I do agree professional experience and on the job training sometimes outweighs additional schooling.
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Lucretia Human on 24 Mar 14Martin, First of all I really enjoyed Father Guido Sarducci back in the late 70's and early 80's on Saturday Night Live. He pretty much always had good insight then and it still applies today. My most memorable classes in college were the ones that the were hands on and the ones that applied directly to my degree. In other classes rote learning was fine for the test. I can regurgitate with the best. However, I remember very few of the items that I memorized with the exception of anatomy and physiology, which I incorporated mnemonics to help me learn. To answer your questions: Do we really need 4-6 years of additional education to be fully prepared for a career? Did the college/university you attended prepare you for the career you currently have? I don't think you could ever be fully prepared for any career after 4-6 years in college. I think experience prepares you fully, with experience comes wisdom and insight. That is way many college degrees are adding internships and work experience in order to graduate. For these millennial students rote learning is never going to work. They are hands on, tech savvy and ready to conquer the world one Smartphone at a time. In order for us as educators to engage all 4-6 years in learning we must incorporate ways to educate our students so that in 5 years after graduation they can remember more than supply and demand, Como esta usted? and Where is God?
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Lucretia Human on 24 Mar 14Rene, I agree with you about some of the most intelligent people I know never got an formal education, but learned from their experiences and the world and people around them. In the 1960's 10% of the population had college degrees, today 30% of the population has college degrees. There have been so many advancements in every discipline across the board, yet only 10%-30% of the population are "formally educated." Does not seems possible, right? Just like you said, "As a society, we need to recognize that education is not just a degree. We need to value individuals who make contributions in different ways." I do not agree that every student is college bound. I do believe they all should have an opportunity if they choose to go to college, but some are just not ready. As a society, we need to recognize this and create alternate paths for these students to travel on without them being made to feel like their contributions to society don't count.
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danielraguilarjr on 25 Mar 14Great video, Martin! My wife and I have this "more schooling" conversation often as we are both pursuing our doctorates hoping that it will open more doors for us in the future. We have found this to be both true and not true. Some jobs want you to have more schooling and others think that having to pay you more because of all of the schooling you have is not worth it. We have been on both sides of the hiring spectrum. The degrees provided me to an extent with the tools I needed for my job but, the piece of paper and the tests I took made me eligible for the job I have. It is my opinion that teacher education programs just cannot prepare you for being in a classroom. There is a huge difference between learning about something and actually doing it. The classes that were hands on seemed to be the only things that prepared me for being a teacher... for example lesson planning, etc. All the lecture in the world couldn't prepare you for the personalities that you encounter when teaching and the socioeconomic factors as well. No two students are alike. In the end, I don't think we need all of these years of education (for many of us it's 10 years of higher education) but we do need to networking with professionals in our field and the ability to say that we have the piece of paper that makes us an "expert" in our field.
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Lucretia Human on 25 Mar 14Daniel, If we don't need all those years of education do you have an alternate plan for being successful at whatever degree you have choosen? I think on the job training would be so much more interesting, helpful and educational. What are your thoughts?
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Martin Rodriguez on 26 Mar 14Lu, something that the military does and it does it very well in train its soldiers and they do this mainly with hands-on and on the job training. I went to school to be a helicopter mechanic, as a matter of fact I was just telling my wife last night that I failed my first test and was given one more chance or I would be kicked out. The reason I failed it was because it was an open book test and I had never tested in that manner so I was lost. I had always studied or memorize the material and that is how I was successful in school, never had I had an open book test. Once I got the hang of open book test I was an expert at taking test but not an expert mechanic. It took several months of actually working on the helicopters next to people that were already experts that made it possible for me to learn all the ins and outs of my job as a mechanic. To be honest with you, I could have done just as well without the school part.
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Martin Rodriguez on 26 Mar 14Daniel, I do agree that we need the education to follow certain careers but I don't think we need all the content that is required to earn a degree. For example, why do I need to take kinesiology to be a history major? Why do I need to take two more histories and two more governments when I have been studying this same subject throughout my k-12 education. It just seems that some of these degrees are made longer just to keep a student in college where they'll be spending more money on tuition and fees.
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danielraguilarjr on 26 Mar 14Lucretia, I agree with you. On the job training is more interesting, helpful and educational. As a teacher, I think that I could have learned what I needed in two years and then spent the rest of my years doing hands on learning in the classroom. I still have to attend training's that are relevant to my job anyway which are sometimes helpful. Martin, I agree we don't need all of the content that is required to earn the degree. I must say that it has been helpful to take a few classes outside of the realm of my degree. But, I'd rather send my child to a doctor that has a broad knowledge of biology, medicine, genetics, etc., instead of only a understanding of just common child illnesses like the cold and flu. In K-12, we are not simply teachers of one subject. I may have been hired to teach history, but, I'm also a friend, coach, mentor, occasional health consultant (when they come to me before going to the nurse), mediator (there are plenty of disagreements in middle school students), math teacher (History involves some occasional mathematical work), etc. You took a history or government course from about 1st or 2nd grade all the way through your senior year in HS, right? If you were going to be my College or High School teacher, I think having 4+ college history courses would make you more of a subject matter expert, no?
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Martin Rodriguez on 26 Mar 14Daniel, I agree, the more you read, research and practice a field the better you will become, well at least in theory that is the way it's supposed to work. But as you mention to Lu, that you could have learned what you needed to learn in two years and the rest could have been hands-on. Maybe that should be something higher education should be looking at, more of the real world setting instead of so much classroom time.
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Amanda Lerma on 27 Mar 14Martin, Nice video. I've seen it before after one of our instructors posted it in another class a few semesters ago. Although funny, it is also kind of unfortunate in a way. I have to admit that after 4 years at a university I too probably did forget many of the things I learned. It does get you to thinking if it all was entirely necessary. I have a business degree and I am currently working in the higher education area so I don't think my specific degree has helped me in that sense. Obviously, you still need to have good communication and writing skills but I don't know if you necessarily need to attend 4 years of a university to obtain these skills. I think much of what I've learned in my current profession have been things I have learned on the job. I think in general I find that I learn better that way in actually practicing something and making mistakes and learning from mistakes rather than reading a manual, textbook etc.. Although at times I know reading and grasping information in that sense can still be crucial.
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Amanda Lerma on 27 Mar 14Lu, You bring up a good point in how many college degrees are adding internships as part of degree requirements. I have noticed this as well and I think this is a great effort on the part of the academic institutions. It provides the students with the real life experience and the ability to actually apply what they have learned in classes and also gain knowledge from the actual practice. I think it also provides them with an opportunity to begin to network with individuals and have those connections upon graduation. These internships could also be great to allow for students to take early on in school which could give them a better idea about the profession and if it may be the right fit for them.
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Amanda Lerma on 27 Mar 14Rene, I definitely agree. We need to value contributions that others make to our society who may not have doctoral degrees or any other types of degree. Our society needs to have a diversity in the contributions made in order to function. Your post makes me think back to the video I believe Jaime posted a few weeks ago by Sir Ken Robinson. We are not all fit to attend a university and there is nothing wrong with that. People can still gain much needed knowledge through other avenues and still make critical contributions to our society.
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Lucretia Human on 27 Mar 14Amanda, The interships do provide some great advantages to students. My son is majoring in Agricultural Economics and he has an internship with the USDA this summer. He needs "practical" experience in just agriculture. They have him working in the fields, inspecting crops. The point is to give he knowledge not only in just his own small part of agriculture but a total picture of the world of agriculture. He seems very excited and knows like you said will provide him "with an opportunity to begin to network with individuals and have those connections upon graduation."
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Rene Zuniga on 27 Mar 14The joys and woes of being an educated person! As you may notice, most of the comments in this blog are "educated". I think one of the reasons for requiring a four-year degree is to become a well-rounded person not just to learn how to be teacher, engineer, or an agricultural individual. As Daniel pointed out, most of the training to become an effective educator is done out in the trenches. Lu, also makes a good point: networking. We all know that many times is not what you know, but rather who you know. At any rate, I would highly recommend any individual to become "formally educated". The advantages of being an "educated" person far outweigh the disadvantages.
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Martin Rodriguez on 28 Mar 14Rene, don't get me wrong, I'm a huge advocate of higher education I just think that we might be over doing it. I'm also a firm believer that not everyone is college material, I heard someone this week say that "not everyone is college material, besides we need good bar tenders." We need to stop trying to send everyone to higher education and focus on technical options; at least that is my take on this.
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Martin Rodriguez on 28 Mar 14Amanda, this has been my biggest beef with dual enrollment for the last 10 years, getting these very young, extremely educated graduates who have no experience what so ever. Who in their right mind will hire a 21 year old with a master degree and no experience in the field? The dual enrollment programs need to incorporate internships into the program, allowing for these young students to acquire some sort of hands on experience before graduating.
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Rene Zuniga on 28 Mar 14Martin, I wholeheartedly agree that not everyone is college material. But we need to give the opportunity to anyone who wants it. Sometimes the "non-college material" individual may realize that they like college and may actually do very good.
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Felipe Reyes on 29 Mar 14Internships do provide an excellent opportunity to see the area of study for what it really is in real life. The worst thing I think someone can do is to focus academically and find out at the end that this is really not what you thought it would be. In Texas there has been an increase in developing courses in each Program of Study that provide exposure to the field, but the focus on going to Higher Ed has made many students shy away from the two-hour courses that are not receiving Dual Credit or a higher weight on their GPA. Local Districts seem fixated on this. The State just introduced the concept of graduating with Endorsements to help force a higher value on career focus in hopes that these Practicum type courses find there way into graduation plans. Sometimes old school parent influence is hard to shake as well. Time will tell!
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Laura Esquivel on 30 Mar 14Martin, Great video! Sometimes we need something entertaining in education to clear our minds. To answer your question Do we really need 4-6 years of additional education to be fully prepared for a career? Did the college/university you attended prepare you for the career you currently have? Sometimes the 4 or 10 yrs of education that we get sometimes does not cover it all. I think that we learn a lot of it from experience and actual hands on training. When we finish college and go out and look for a job what is the first thing they ask " How much experience do you have?" Your university may have prepared you right if you had the opportunity to have a internship. Internships are great! They help you prepare for the outside world of college. You also get to see the real life work experience in your career. That is when you know if you picked the right career. No one will ever be prepared for anything right off the top. You learn as you go and one day at a time.
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Laura Esquivel on 30 Mar 14Rene, I don't think that everyone is illiterate...you make yourself become that way. Everyone is intelligent in their own unique ways and I think that we as a society should see that. Sometimes the ones that don't have the fancy degrees are the ones who can help us the most in some cases. Every one is college material. They just need to find the when is the right time.
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Jose Davila on 31 Mar 14Martin, I really enjoyed the video. However, in reference to your question do we really need 4-6 years of additional education to be fully prepared for a career and did the college/university you attended prepare you for the career you currently have. I really have to agree with Laura. It does help to have a degree because it definitely opens doors plus in several jobs they require a degree. However, what I have noticed that counts a great deal is having experience. It all really depends on the real life work experience in your career. Moreover, employers want to know what your work experience is and how many years experience do you have. This is what they really want to know. I have several friends who major in Criminal Justice and end up going back to school to complete the ACP program in education because they can not find a job and end up teaching. I am sure it varies for everyone. Great job Martin !
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Justin Esparza on 31 Mar 14Martin, I do believe that having a 4-6 year degree fully prepares you, if you can work in area similar to what your degree is intended for. I can't speak for everyone, but I spent 5 years to receive my bachelors and masters (both of which have helped me teach all levels of secondary math). This video is funny, but it generalizes the college student to one that doesn't specialize in any specific field. I wouldn't degrade the college degree from years of study to 5 minutes worth of learning. Justin