The Weight of External Expectations
Education, and educators, are constantly being weighed down by an enormous weight. A weight becoming more visible by the day: the weight of expectations. I would categorize the three major weights of expectations on education as Tradition, Standardization, and Dwindling Resources.
The Weight of Tradition
While it’s nearly impossible to say which of these weights is harming education, the most, the weight of tradition is probably the one hitting higher education the most. Many professors teach in the same way that they’ve taught for decades, and the way that their professors taught them. Some obvious clues that the weight of tradition is impacting education qualities: fear of change to a new method (like changing from blackboard to whiteboard to projector or smart board, or even shifting from blue book exams to online exams). While these older methods are not neccessarily harmful, they do have drawbacks for accessibility, physical resources (ever show up to a class and the professor’s chalk or expo marker meet their end?), and even things like ease of grading (many students do not have neat handwriting, and typing cuts our any handwriting interpretation). Of course, new methods also have drawbacks, namely technology issues, and for some less ethically minded students, virtual methods have more room for intellectual theft. I think that a lot of teachers are afraid to break tradition from external pressures to seem traditional, but this fears prevents them from seeing what is actually beneficial for them to use, change, add, or subtract from their standard pedagogy.
The Weight of Standardization
The Weight of Standardization likely affects K-12 teachers the most. Standard tests are some of the most important, but also most detrimental aspects of K-12 learning. Standards help show where students struggle, it helps to enforcethat certain topics are taught, it helps to show how schools compare to one another, and it can help (or greatly harm) schools due to funding based on standardized test success. For a student, standardized tests suck. They’re boring, they’re difficult for many students, and they don’t feel like they have a meaningful result for the student’s life and future. For a teacher, standardized tests suck. Standards force teachers to “teach to the test,” and mpunishes techers who may try to attempt newer and more innovative pedagogical techniques because it takes away time from test preparation. Standards also perpetuate information that can be outdated, misleading, or harmful (Looking at all of the times I had to learn about Christopher Columbus as a “great man” from history).
The Weight of Dwindling Resources
The Weight of Dwindling Resources affectrs almost all teachers and students. There might not be enough money in the budget for their department, or there might not be enough money for in-class activities or field trips, there might not be enough money to pay for tuition without adding a lot of stress to the student. As much as American society expects American citizens to be well educated, there just isn’t the proper amount of resources or funding to attain these lofty ideals.
So how can digital improve these weights of external expectations on education? These are systematic problems that cannot easily be solved, but digital elements can help to lessen the weight. Educators and Students need to be willing to move away from tradition, perhaps by incorporating digital projects, they can involve more students with interactive learning or use more accessible methods of learning and assessment. For standardization, while we cannot overthrow standards using digital tools, many institutions like museums or libraries create digital learning programs that specifically address educational standards, which can help teachers to justify the use of new pedagogical techniques with their students and lessons that the students might find more memorable. For dwindling resources, while digital cannot overcome lack of resources, many digital resources are free as long as you have access to devices and internet, utilizing digital projects like these don’t break the bank and can greatly enhance learning, especially compared to traditional methods such as expensive textbooks that schools or students may not always be able to afford. It’s not perfect, but digital can improve some of these problems, you just might need to be a bit creative to find solutions to your exact problems.
