Synthesis Paper #1
In 2025, content knowledge will be approached differently than it is today in social studies and history. The importance of memorization will be significantly downgraded in importance because information is so readily available at one’s finger tips. This is only true for trivial information and specific details such as exact dates. The need for an overall understanding of themes and concepts however will be just as important then as it is today and is something that cannot be grasped by simply looking it up on the internet.
The method of which we teach content knowledge will most likely be highly altered. The traditional classroom setting will most likely give way to computer based learning. This has the potential to make the role of the teacher less relevant but human interaction is much more effective at teaching the greater themes and concepts. Also, the computer can teach students what happened in an era but is much less effective about helping students realize the connections between them as well as drawing the most important impacts of an era. It will be the role of the teacher to make the necessary connections with the information students are pulling from the internet.
While the role of technology will dominate schools in 2025, the skills a student needs are not necessarily going to be all revolving around being technologically savvy. The younger generation will have technology as their main source of entertainment, communication and so on so it is safe to assume that the vast majority of students will be up to date on technological knowledge, most likely even far ahead of a lot of their teachers depending on their age and tenacity. Technology even becomes more and more affordable as the years go by so even the more impoverished children will have access to computers at home or their schools. The basic skills of being able to pull information off the internet will already be embedded in most students in 2025 and it will no longer be necessary to waste class time teaching this information. One aspect of internet browsing that will still be important however is teaching them how to recognize the credibility of a source and the dangers of false information and extreme bias that may be part of a site. Because so much of the information students receive will be coming from the internet it will be extremely important that they recognize the difference between a random individual’s blog and EbscoHost.
A student in 2025 must also obtain certain attributes and skills to be successful in the classroom that do not involve technology. Schools everywhere in the United States are becoming more and more diverse so all students need to be very tolerate, respectful and understanding of their peers’ differences. Colleges are not getting any easier to get accepted to either so the level of competition is also greatly increasing by the year. Children and teenages will have to develop better work ethics and increase their focus on school to become extremely resilient students to make it to the next level of education.
As a teacher in 2025, I will not have the same advantages as my students in terms of being immersed in technology since birth. I currently am relatively computer capable but I could still use some help in some areas, especially considering the rapid development of new technologies. I am also currently being taught teaching strategies and activities that will most likely be irrelevant and outdated by 2025, so it will be on me as an active teacher to stay updated on all the potential learning tools that technology has to offer.
