Learning
Our society is undergoing a radical change in respect to the way we share knowledge. Students (including myself) are constantly bored by textbooks which are outdated in comparison to the high speed technological world in which we live. Why do we still subject students to these traditional methods of learning which do not appeal when they are eager to learn in other ways? With so much external stimulus from television, advertising and the internet, sitting in a classroom can seem boring by comparison. Students’ drive to learn can be diluted when the way in which they learn is not appealing to them. That’s why I love helping with IntuEdu and Neil Takes on Science.
We have moved through the industrial age and through the information age, now onto the age of knowledge. A person will not only be judged on their grades but their ability to acquire and apply new-found knowledge effectively. Adapting the way we are educated can help us reach our full potential as learners and help develop ourselves as human beings. But what are we adapting to? We are moving into an age where social media aids our learning instead of hindering it. An age where pupils use the internet frequently to collect and share knowledge. An age where collaborative learning is encouraged.
The community that is IntuEdu was created by students who realised where our education system is failing to adapt to these changes and decided to intervene. IntuEdu provides a safe learning environment online where students can ask questions and share their ideas. It encourages students to help each other in such a way that they develop their own learning: to teach is the best way to learn. There are accounts of past experiences so that pupils in the future may learn from our mistakes or develop on our ideas; there are forums to allow for the collaborative learning which is becoming oh-so important and there are sister sites which better engage the inquisitive minds of today.
The sister sites are again made by the pupils who noticed the lack of online learning material. All the sites that are, or are going to be, published have been created by the pupils themselves allowing them to share their first hand experience of the course. They can share the ways of learning they found effective and allow others to use them. The sites contain full notes on the courses, examples, tips, videos, aids to learning: the list goes on. These sites have adapted from the nearing null and void methods of education, the sharing of knowledge is fundamental.
Education should be more than just absorbing facts and methods. It should send us home in wonder, leave us contemplating the world we live in. Intelligent thinkers with creative minds are becoming the alpha males of our species: brains are taking over brawn. That’s not to say that people have not always sought knowledge. On the contrary, intelligence has been the back-burning spine of our society for centuries. Our eternal quest for knowledge, beginning before the great minds of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle is now progressing at exponential rates. Being able to harness the inundation of knowledge and information that is falling at our feet along with the ability to adapt to the changes in society is what should be taught in schools. This is what education needs.
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