I just spoke with a high school teacher from the tri-cities area in Washington state. She said her school doesn't use textbooks any more because they know students won't take them home and read or study them. Instead, she has to come up with all her own handouts for her business writing class. She teaches her 2D animation class step-by-step on the computer (which probably is the best way to learn new software).
She said she attended a workshop on schools and reading recently. Colleges and universities are seeing the same issue. Students don't want to use the textbooks. Which reminded me of library school. We had textbooks assigned for each class, but for the most part were assigned articles to read, projects to complete, or books to read for reader's advisory purposes. We weren't assigned readings from the textbook. I suppose it was for students who didn't think they were busy enough with the rest of library school to use.
Just yesterday I spoke with a parent of a fifth grader who was appalled and critical of her daughter's school because it doesn't have textbooks either. She said her daughter's teacher prints off articles from the Internet for her students to learn history, etc. She also complained that the majority of the school day is spent with reading and little time is allotted for history and science. This parent believes her daughter's liberal arts education to be greatly lacking.
It is hard to imagine learning in this new environment. My elementary and high schools used textbooks. We read from them in class. We were assigned chapters to read for homework and expected to study the textbooks for tests. I'm not sure how students study now. I hear many parents complain about all the homework their children have. What exactly does that homework consist of? Worksheets? Research? And then there is the great criticism of American public schools and the quality of the education they provide.
I used to think the great debate of whether books would be relevant, and thereby libraries, in the future was a big joke, thinking that books are forever. Now I'm wondering. We read about a drop in newspaper subscriptions because people get their news online. E-books readers and e-books are gaining popularity.
If the young people of today are learning primarily through digital media, printed media may indeed have a shorter shelf life than I ever expected.
She said she attended a workshop on schools and reading recently. Colleges and universities are seeing the same issue. Students don't want to use the textbooks. Which reminded me of library school. We had textbooks assigned for each class, but for the most part were assigned articles to read, projects to complete, or books to read for reader's advisory purposes. We weren't assigned readings from the textbook. I suppose it was for students who didn't think they were busy enough with the rest of library school to use.
Just yesterday I spoke with a parent of a fifth grader who was appalled and critical of her daughter's school because it doesn't have textbooks either. She said her daughter's teacher prints off articles from the Internet for her students to learn history, etc. She also complained that the majority of the school day is spent with reading and little time is allotted for history and science. This parent believes her daughter's liberal arts education to be greatly lacking.
It is hard to imagine learning in this new environment. My elementary and high schools used textbooks. We read from them in class. We were assigned chapters to read for homework and expected to study the textbooks for tests. I'm not sure how students study now. I hear many parents complain about all the homework their children have. What exactly does that homework consist of? Worksheets? Research? And then there is the great criticism of American public schools and the quality of the education they provide.
I used to think the great debate of whether books would be relevant, and thereby libraries, in the future was a big joke, thinking that books are forever. Now I'm wondering. We read about a drop in newspaper subscriptions because people get their news online. E-books readers and e-books are gaining popularity.
If the young people of today are learning primarily through digital media, printed media may indeed have a shorter shelf life than I ever expected.
1 comments:
Melanie said...
As a teacher I can tell you that we make all our own homework assignments. We use text books to teach but the students do not use them. But we do requiere the students to constantly be reading books and they have to give various book reports throughout the year.