My philosophy of education...

I feel that the fundamental purpose of education is two-fold: first we must teach children how to behave and function productively in society, and secondly we must continue to pass the knowledge and insights we have gained from the past onto future generations. Children should be taught to think for themselves and be able to solve problems intelligently and efficiently. I think that by having an organized, national educational system we can ensure that the best educational techniques and ideas are shared and that new knowledge is available to everyone equally.

The educational curriculum should begin with the basics which will create a strong foundation for which to build upon. Once the basics are mastered, students should be exposed to a wide range of subjects to allow them to be able to find and area they are both comfortable with and interested in. Only after a student has mastered the basics and learned about a wide variety of different topics should they be ready to branch of into a semi-specialized path of study. This would give everyone a strong foundation on which to build and allow most everyone to excel in a field that interests them, thus giving greater returns to society as a whole.

I believe that an interested student is the most receptive to learning. Keeping the students focused on the lesson and interested in what they are learning is vital. Simply lecturing or assigning the students busy work is not enough. The teacher must change with the needs of the students and has to wear many different hats in the classroom; as a facilitator, a mentor, an instructor, etc. While each of the six different types of education philosophies certainly has its merits, I do not feel that any particular one is right for all occasions. Without question, I am eclectic in my philosophical thoughts about education. There will be times and situations when different techniques will be required and sticking to one philosophy will not work.

Teachers have many roles. They are role models, instructors, mentors, and sometimes just someone to talk to. Teachers need to set positive examples both in and out of the classroom. A teacher needs to be able to change lesson plans when things are not working and be able to recover an unruly class. They need to encourage students to do their very best and challenge them to achieve to be more than just average. Teachers are helping shape the future.

The role of the student also varies. While this is not always as obvious, the students need to do more than just sit quietly and listen. Active participation is important to the learning process. Students not only learn from the teacher but also from other students. Ideas, constructive comments, and thoughts should be encouraged and built upon when it will benefit the lesson.

Of the six different philosophies of education, I would have to say that I agree with points from several, thereby making me eclectic in my educational philosophy. While all of the different philosophies have their merits, I do not feel that any certain one is best for all situations. Differences in learning styles, age groups, etc. cannot all be addressed by the same teaching style. In fact, changes may be needed daily to continue to help students progress and learn.


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Rise of the machines...

While I certain find the headline distasteful, as well as the author's insistence on pushing the reader away from the programming and optics of the robot, and towards the seedy side, you have to admire the guy's abilities. Assuming all of the demonstrations in the video are real, then this is a very impressive piece of work.

I worked a little with A.I. back in the 90s when computers were just getting fast enough to make a difference (worked on a 'smart' search engine for searching databases). I have since tried to keep up (when I can) with the news coming from that part of science. The progress they are making is truly amazing, but this it pretty advanced. A few minutes into the video he holds up a hand written math equation that she solves almost instantly. Later she recognizes objects just by looking at them.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2023392.ece


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So much for posting every day...

Sorry. I have college finals this week and part of next. It's been a tough couple of weeks.

And so it begins...

I talked once before about posting links to funny/odd/weird things here. So, let's begin, shall we?

Picard vs Arnold

Star Trek vs Star Wars

The Front Fell Off



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Back to school...

Well the holiday is over and it's back to school/work. As I write this post, I am sitting in a small room in the Science Building, freezing my behind off. It seems to me that at a college of technology, they could at least get the heat to work. :-/

Finals are next week so I guess we'll be hitting the books pretty hard for the next few days and looking forward to Christmas break.

I thought about posting things I find online to this blog and I think I will start doing that. Only thing is, most of the stuff I find I forward to family and friends (the only people who see this) so for a while, it may seem redundant. Anywho, I'll start gathering up the links and posting them tonight. I hope to post something everyday and I'll still post personal events I feel are share-able!

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