I agree that young people and probably not so young people need a teacher, mentor or coach to guide them but that person might be an academic advisor available on the web or perhaps even better an on-site mentor/coach who could work with students to choose OER resources that will best suit their learning needs and build logically toward appropriate learning outcomes. One of my community organizing students (working in Haiti) suggested that such "coaches" might be located in schools or some other kind of "educational resource sites"...they could provide face-to-face guidance for those who could access the site physically and perhaps telephone coaching for those who cannot. Even the addition of voice contact through cell phone might give inexperienced students the confidence they need as well as guidance through the often confusing world of academic preparation. I wonder what people think of this idea. Joyce McKnight, Associate Professor, Empire State College (US)
From: jim kelly <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Date: 01/10/2013 12:40 PM Subject: [WikiEducator] Re: Why classrooms are important? Sent by: [email protected] Agree. There is no doubt that interactions between a young (or beginning) learner and an educator are very important. Failure here guarantees that knowledge will be misused. The value and enthusiasm to learn require the presents of an educator. But a lack of qualified educators in many learning communities, money to obtain an education and a world in which the human knowledge base has gone global is requiring communities to redefine how a learner learns. Examine the observation made in the Youth Version of the 2012 UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring Report ( http://www.unevoc.unesco.org/e-forum/Be%20skiller%20be%20employed%20be%20change%20generation.pdf ) by Ali Zayaan a 19 year old from Maldives "Even right now, many young people that can’t afford full schooling are able to access the internet. They can use the internet (whether at home or somewhere public like a library) to learn at their own pace for free, even if they have to work in the daytime or can’t afford or access regular schooling. If they want to get a qualification like a high school diploma, then they just need to afford time and money for one or two days to attend an exam. This lowers the cost barrier of pursuing an education a lot." Traditional educational approaches need to adapt. Jim Kelly ( www.k-12math.info) -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]
