"Did You Know?/Shift Happens" throws out a lot of big numbers - statistics and projections - in order to impress on you two things: 1) The world is bigger than you think it is, and 2) Information and technology are growing incredibly fast. One of those projections starts with: "By 2012, it is predicted that..." I laughed, thinking the video was so outdated. But then I paused, realizing that my reaction underscored the whole point of the video. "Shift Happens" is the concluding statement, meaning that the world is changing. It can be presumed, then, that we need to be ready for it. But how will it really affect us? Check out video number two:
"Classroom of Tomorrow" follows a similar theme, but is more focused - it illustrates a near-future scenario in which all teaching and learning is conducted via mobile device. I realize that this is a real movement in education, and that the incorporation of new tools into the curriculum has a number of advantages, but the extent to which it is portrayed in the video is simultaneously upsetting and unrealistic.
First, it is upsetting because it does show literally all teaching and learning being conducted via mobile device. The lack of apparent human interaction is magnified by the video's silence; there is music, but there are no words. The actors don't even mime human interaction, and everyone's head is constantly bowed towards their device. One student is even portrayed "dual-wielding" smartphone and tablet, one in each hand.
It is unrealistic because the unspoken assumption is that this is the Classroom of Tomorrow, or rather any Classroom of Tomorrow. But this is clearly not any classroom - this is the classroom of the privileged.
While I agree that the classroom should be an environment that promotes technological fluency, there also needs to be an awareness of students' (and schools') vastly differing levels of access to this sort of expensive equipment.
What are your thoughts?
