Week+2+Discussion+5362

"The increase in the importance of informal education with respect to formal and non-formal education, and the influence of other factors all depending from complexity of today's society, are showing the inadequacy of old educational models with respect to knowledge society needs" (Cartelli, 2006).  The first point this quote makes is the fact that informal education (outside of the classroom) has increased. The fact that today's students have learned most of their technological skills informally and many have surpassed even the basic technological knowledge of their teachers, indicates that our educational system is not where students are learning about technology. They are learning at home or with friends. This fact alone is alarming. Isn't the public education system supposed to be teaching kids how to be productive in today's society? This is probably why copyright laws are constantly and consistently violated--since students are learning most of this on their own, who is teaching them about computer ethics?  The second point this quote makes is the fact that educators simply cannot teach using old educational models. We may not have been the ones teaching our students how to interact with technology, but this is the "language" many of them use, and it is what our society needs. One of the roles of public education is to produce contributing members of society. If we are not teaching students using current tools and information, we are not fulfilling one of the basic roles of public education.  This situation reminds me of living here in Austin around 15 years ago. We were a medium-sized town and did not want to grow to the size of Dallas or Houston. I think most of us resisted the need to build roads, schools, anything!! Then, Dell and a lot of other technology-based industries moved here. Still, we did not build. I think most of us were thinking that if we build, then that will just give the green light for more to move here. If we do nothing, all these new-comers will get tired of it and move back to where they came from. As traffic became a nightmare and schools were busting at the seams, we finally decided that we had to do something!! Finally, the toll roads and new schools were built--and we are still building! You cannot stop the inevitable by resisting change. It's coming or is already here--so might as well get on board before you fall too far behind...  Cartelli, A. (2006). Semantics, ontologies, and information systems in education: concerns and proposals. //Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology.// 3,113-125.