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This came to me the other day from Mike Kruger, Online Outreach Specialist for the Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives. Chaired by the Honorable George Miller, the committee is apparently holding a series of hearings about the future of learning.
Mike pointed me specifically to the testimony of Abel Real, a current Freshman at East Carolina University, and graduate from Greene Central High School in Snow Hill, NC. It’s a compelling story about the potential impact that respecting our kids with efforts to modernize their classrooms and learning experiences can have.
One line from Real’s testimony caught my ear. He said that
Technology helped me to create, learn, explain, document, and analyze the different aspects of my life.
I can’t think of a better way to describe what education is supposed to do.
You can see Abel’s testimony here and a listing of the other June 16 testimonies at the committee’s YouTube Channel.
As we attend NECC next week, we should keep in mind that the reason we are there is so that this might become a common story.
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Yes! My thoughts to your readers ~
The next time you have to meet with someone to discuss the value of technology, don’t say a thing! Show this video of Abel Real’s “essay” on how to liberate the students. Student voice will win the day! Perhaps, blinded by the radiance of Mr. Real’s story (and by association, everyone responsible for the Greene Central High School in Snow Hill, NC turn around), they shall see the light.
David,
I watched Mr. Real’s compelling testimony last week during the hearing (heard about it through Twitter and RT’d it out to my PLN – we are all connected!) One of the things that I think is missing in the YouTube videos of the testimony are the questions that were asked after the prepared presentations. During the Q & A, Mr. Real remarked that he learned how to tie a tie from YouTube which again spoke to the value of technology, in this case, teaching life skills. From the simple to the complex, technology offers solutions for many of our students across all environments.