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In lugnet.admin.general, Chris Phillips <chris.phillips@computerboards.com>
writes:
> In lugnet.robotics.rcx.nqc, Todd Lehman writes:
> > ...snip...
> > I'm 100% for it -- except for the word "teaching." Here's why: I've always
> > thought of "teaching" as "instructing" or the "pushing" of knowledge, while
> > I've always thought of "learning" as the "discovering" or "pulling" of
> > knowledge. As much as I believe that people generally love to learn things,
> > I don't believe that people generally love to be "taught" things.
> >
> > (Does that make any sense? Feel free to disagree!)
> > ...snip...
>
> This is a brilliant insight. I am not a "teacher" by trade (I also have the
> title "Engineer" tattooed across my cranium) but I have had many opportunities
> to teach small classes on various topics. It took me awhile to discover that
> trying to "push" information at students doesn't work. You have to get them
> interested in wanting to do something, and then get out of their way and let
> them do it for themselves. That is the best (only?) way to teach the critical
> thought processes that can carry the student beyond the protective shell of the
> classroom.
>
> Failure to grasp this single Truth is what is wrong with the conventional
> education system as we know it, in my opinion.
I think major areas of education will [have to] end up going through the
same push->pull revolution that traditional media have begun to go through
in recent years.
Pushing television shows, commercials, movies -- and especially news -- in
prepackaged easy-to-swallow doses and timespots only goes so far... Now
with the Web, people are discovering that they can Pull that information
_to_ them _when_ they're ready for it and _how_ they want it, instead of
having it shoved (or shoveled :) _at_ them whether they're ready for it or
not. Both paradigms are desirable in moderation, but which way to choose
ultimately has to be up to the consumer/learner, not to the producer/
teacher if the larger "economy" of information/education is to reach its
full potential.
Not that there's anything wrong with being a "teacher" or a "professor" but
I think labels more appropriate to the future are words like "mentor" and
"guide."
--Todd
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