STEM Education Institute Announcement: Tuesday Talk info

[Stem Account <stem@k12s.phast.umass.edu>]

The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Institute
presents:

Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 4 PM
Hasbrouck Lab, Room 138, University of Massachusetts Amherst

"Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology"

Allan Collins
Prof. Emeritus, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern
University

All around us people are learning with the aid of new technologies:
children are playing complex video games, workers are taking online
courses to get an advanced degree, students are taking courses at
commercial learning centers to prepare for tests, adults are consulting
Wikipedia, etc. New technologies create learning opportunities that
challenge traditional schools and colleges. These new learning niches
enable people of all ages to pursue learning on their own terms. People
around the world are taking their education out of school into homes,
libraries, Internet cafes, and workplaces, where they can decide what they
want to learn, when they want to learn, and how they want to learn.
The developments described above are changing how people think about
education. This rethinking will take many years to fully penetrate our
understanding of the world and the society around us. To be successful,
leaders will need to grasp these changes in a deep way and bring the
government?s resources to bear on the problems raised by the changes that
are happening. The rethinking that is necessary applies to many aspects of
education and society. We are beginning to rethink the nature of learning,
motivation, and what is important to learn. Further, the nature of careers
are changing how people transition back and forth between learning and
working. These changes demand a new kind of educational leadership and
changing roles for government. New leaders will need to understand the
affordances of the new technologies, and have a vision for education that
will bring the new resources to everyone.

The program begins at 4 PM; refreshments at 3:45 PM.
Parking available at the Campus Center Garage.
For more information, contact STEM Ed Institute at 545-0453

Next talk:  April 20, 2010, Julie Brigham-Grette, Dept of Geosciences,
University of Massachusetts, "Arctic Immersion for U.S. Undergraduates on
Svalbard"