My Thoughts on the Evolution of Education

I found the article "Schools are doing Education 1.0; talking about doing Education 2.0; when they should be planning Education 3.0" by Jackie Gerstein, Ed D. intriguing.  Gerstein gives great insight into the connection between Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 to Education 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 and stated that 'the evolution of the web...can be used as a metaphor of how education should also be evolving'.  There is no doubt that as the world of information delivery and technological innovations grow, education has to evolve along with it in order to develop citizens that can thrive within their communities.  What I don't agree with is Education being too much of 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0.  I believe that there has to be a balance of all three.

Education 1.0, as depicted in this image from Gerstein's article shows that the teacher is the holder of all knowledge and passes that knowledge to the learner.  Teachers use resources such as textbooks, worksheets, videos, etc. to pass knowledge to students.  Students are passive recipients of the knowledge and most likely take in that knowledge as it is presented without question.  I feel that this is the bulk of how teaching is executed to this day with a bit of Education 2.0 mixed in.  Gerstein does mention that this era of education focuses on achievement test scores and student evaluation based on standardized testing.  I don't think that I am too far off in saying that these tests are usually directed by school divisions for data purposes as they need to report to stakeholders that students are achieving success within the division.  These types of tests, in my opinion, are not teacher driven but are required assessments for teachers to deliver.

Education 2.0, according to this image from Gerstein's article, the teacher is a facilitator or orchestrator of knowledge.  Essentially, I see this as the teacher pointing the students in the direction of where they can find the knowledge and supporting them through that learning.  Here, students are able to collaborate with one another and share their knowledge and insights with their classmates and peers.  This is where, I believe, teachers now are striving to be.

Education 3.0, is where the teacher is a resource guide and seems to be where students are the facilitators of their own learning.  Here, students are using the internet/web to find information, they can collaborate with their peers across the globe, not just with those in their class, and they also share their knowledge with others - essentially becoming teachers themselves.  I believe that the teacher plays a crucial role as a resource guide and also as a digital citizenship guide.  Teachers would need to support students in evaluating information found on the web as true and accurate.  This stage of education will be difficult to achieve as I feel most teachers feel the need to have some control over the information that students are presented with.

I see each of Education 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 having valuable perks and a combination of all three as necessary for the diverse set of learners that exist.  Not all learners are intrinsically motivated to facilitate their own learning.  They still require the structure of a teacher providing information for them or supporting them with direction on where to find the information.  However, too much of this stage can be negative as stated in this tweet by @kareemfarah23.  If the goal is to create self-regulated learners, too much of the Education 1.0 method will hamper that success.

Because school divisions are accountable to various stakeholders who want to know if students are successful in the the divisions learning environments, standardized assessments are still needed to provide that data.  Until a less traditional method of recording student achievement is accepted by stakeholders, I don't see a full shift from Education 1.0 into Education 2.0 or 3.0 as possible.  Another consideration when thinking of a shift to Education 3.0 is the digital divide.  The theory of Education 3.0 assumes that all students will have equivalent reliable access to the internet/web and devices in which to access the internet/web.  This is not the case across the world, across Canada, within each province, or within each community.  The divide, at this point, is to large for a full transition to Education 3.0.