Chapter 1: New World, New Web, New Skills

I think the American educational institution is in need of some direction. Students from the United States are repeatedly being outperformed by students from countries all over the world, and I think this is due, at least in part, to the fact that there is no real agreement as to the purpose of education. Ironically, wholesale decisions about our national education system are made by bureaucrats who are themselves far removed from the classroom. Regardless of their personal philosophies, educators are urged, and in some cases mandated, to teach rote facts that are easily quantifiable by standardized tests. In order to teach effectively, one must not only know what and how to teach, but must also address why it is being taught. Is the purpose of education to train students to regurgitate facts on a series of multiple-choice tests, or it is to equip them with the skills necessary to both function in contemporary society, as well as further advance and progress that society into the future? At the very least, I agree with the authors of Web 2.0: new tools, new schools in that “education has to focus on the skills and abilities that students will need if the next generation is to remain competitive in the changing world” (pg. 9).

In the face of the discovery of the Kuiper Belt object known then as 2003 UB 313, in August 2006 the scientific community had to come to grips with the fact that no one had ever really developed an agreed-upon working definition for the word “planet”. As a result, debates that had raged for centuries about the classification of certain objects in our solar system at last had to be officially addressed. The advancement of technology in the field of astronomy and astrophysics forced the astronomy community to sit down and definitively decide on a list of characteristics that would classify an object as a “planet”. The most notable outcome is the reclassification (some would argue “demotion”) of Pluto to “plutoid” status -- Pluto is now otherwise referred to as a “dwarf planet”.

Similar to this, our nation -- everyone from government officials and teachers, to parents and students -- needs to be in agreement as to the purpose of education. Regardless of whether or not the powers that be still dictate what teachers must teach, at least everyone will be aware of why it is being taught.