Tear Down the Walls

Imagine a School without Walls

It was 1968, I had just graduated from college, and I was ready to shake up the world. I heard about this new approach to teaching being used in Britain called “Open Classroom.” The more I read about it, the more natural it seemed to me. It was kid centric--children actively involved in the learning process. Schools would take down walls between the classrooms and kids would be learning in hands-on small group instruction, instead of a teacher standing in front of room teaching all the kids the same thing at the same time. I embraced the Open Classroom approach and even had the opportunity to teach in the environment. The problem – teachers in my district were not properly trained and many resisted the change. It was considered another teaching “fad” and within a few years the walls went back up.

Today I hear the same thing that was said when we returned to our isolated classrooms in the early 70’s. We need to get back to basics. Our schools are failing. Kids aren’t learning. But today it is so different. Huge changes to education are possible--without physically taking down walls--so kids can learn at their own pace.

How? Technology!

Technology is not going away, and it isn’t a fad!  We do face challenges when trying to change a mindset of educators who see themselves as the deliverers of all information and expect students to give back same information on a test and parents who think their kids are computer savvy just because they can play video games.    

Let’s not lose a generation of kids! For years, I have seen the positive results of using technology with young children, and I keep imagining a tomorrow in which all children will have access to technology, the best learning tool we have.