In this next blog, I hope to cover some reflection on the past week’s documentary watched, as well as some quick thoughts on copyright within the classroom.
I watched the documentary titled “Most Likely to Succeed” this past week, and learned so much about the structure of our modern schools. I honestly didn’t think about how structured and rigid our current school system is, with school bells dictating class times, to blocks allocated to just one subject at a time. Hi-Tech High school is a school focusing on creativity, projects, and social skills. I do think the concept is very cool, and the projects created showcase amazing talent and understanding of the world around them. However, there are some flaws that were mentioned in the movie that are critical to knowing the pros and cons. For example, the academic portion of school could be completely missed when teaching as Hi-Tech High does. Certain calculations or academic concepts in Hi-Tech High are not held as highly as they are in other schools. This is fine in the aspects of the real world, however, when trying to take SAT’s, ACT’s, or other high risk tests this could pose a problem. If these standardized tests didn’t exist, then the concept of this school would seemingly work out much better in my opinion. The students were able to grasp important pieces of knowledge, while being able to display this in a creative way to family and friends. This helps reinforce, or introduce, many critical skills to students like communication, collaboration, presentation skills, and more. However, there is no way the world will know if this schooling concept works for years. Students need to fully go through the Hi-Tech High system, graduate, attend university, and then see how it turned out. As of now, it is simply too early to tell whether this idea of a school should be enforced within other school districts across the world. On top of all of this, students and teachers within the school also seemed to be able to create a better bond and relationship. Teachers cared strongly about what and how their students learned, as well as students were able to have less structured discussions with their teachers. All of this allowed for students and teachers to work together to learn, collaborate, and create connections and networks for each other.
While in high school, my school decided to switch over to a closer model of ‘project-based learning’, which was referred to as PBL. This was simply a step away from standardized schooling, and a step closer to a concept like Hi-Tech High. Our school’s principle, mentor teachers, and other staff even went to Hi-Tech High’s campus in San Diego to explore this idea more. My dad attended this trip, as he was a teacher at my school, and he said the concept was very intriguing. However, he also agreed with the flaws stated in the above paragraph. After attending three of their campuses, my dad observed very interesting projects created by students just like us. These students were simply given more creative liberty, and a less structured schooling.
On another note, learning about copyright within educational institutions is so important when pursuing a education degree. Copyright is important when it comes to everything from photocopying notes, to utilizing music within the classroom. When reading the Fair Dealing Guidelines, as well as articles based around fair copyright, it was evident how every piece of media utilized needs to be an open resource, sourced, or granted permission for the use of. Teachers can use other people’s work to help their class learn, but this does not mean stealing work to benefit yourself or your students. There are many free to use resources within the local area, which benefits teachers and also benefits those who cared the resource. Not only this, but also it is important to share this knowledge with your older students. For example, when making presentations, students can learn how to cite images in order to not steal someone else’s work.