Jim Knight - If Steve Jobs Designed Schools
What if Steve Jobs had re-invented the education system rather the computer and consumer electronics industry?
Steve Jobs was a contradictory character, combining control freak and Zen Buddhist, and technology with design. He had a revolutionary impact on computing, animation, the music industry, printing, and publishing. Last year he and Bill Gates together expressed surprise at how little impact technology had had on schools. Jobs's wife is an educational reformer, he was a college dropout; but what would it have been like if Steve Jobs had focussed on education? What would the Jobs School be like?
Behind this fanciful question is the serious question of whether we are willing to be truly revolutionary in our thinking about schools. Are we brave enough to truly challenge the many forces of conservatism in education? Can we "invent the future" for education? Can we show learners what they really want and make schools "insanely great". Can learning become so intuitive, seductive and personal that every child is engaged, progresses, and fulfils their potential?
Jim Knight was the longest serving Schools minister in the last Labour government; he also served as Rural Affairs minister and Employment minister. He attended weekly Cabinet in the year running up to the 2010 General Election, and was made a life peer in the Dissolution Honours List after that election.
Presented at the Learning Without Frontiers Conference, London, January 26th 2012.
www.learningwithoutfrontiers.com
Пікірлер: 7
If Steve Jobs designed schools there would be a culture of secrecy leading up to any formalized education practices instead--maybe even in spite of--collaboration among them, among cultures, schools, and communities.
Aka. John Dewey approach?
If Steve Jobs designed schools he would change the focus from literacy and standardized testing to innovation competitions and teamwork practices.
C'mon. Apple invested in 10 years of ICT integration and much has been published. It was called the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow. We had Apple communities of practice, and Distinguished Educators. Steve Jobs said that education was in Apple's DNA. How much more could he have done? And anyway, it 's not the technology that matters , but the people using the technologies.
If Steve Jobs Designed Schools - great title! unfortunately Jim Knight delivered poorly.
What a disappointing speech. Jobs was no fool. The first thing he would have done is to check what is the social framework and market for his creation, thus he would never had considered the "state" to be the ideal means to design, build and distribute his creation. What stupid waste of time.