I personally think that responsible smartphone use should be learned and practiced, rather than outright banning them.
I think this shows that adults are terribly addicted to their devices and think if they can't stop using them, children won't either. They certainly can't teach how to use phones responsibly if they can't do it themselves. Unfortunately for children the result is an outright ban.
How would this work? What about people that need to contact their parents?
We need to move away from schools just being prisons for children while parents are at work, and encourage learning and more autonomy over what to study. Imagine having full access to Coursera and EdX and being able to choose what you wanted to study and collect credits like that - building your own syllabus from some of the best educators in the world.
Let kids program video games together at school, build sensors and robots, do basic genetic engineering (e.g. plant patterns), simulate and build model bridges, etc. like stuff that is actually fun but requires basic skills. So you're not just memorising the trigonometry equations but really learning it because you need it in your projects.
And have zero tolerance for disruption and bullying with cameras, etc. It should be a place for collaborative learning, not a prison. It should feel like a much better place to learn than anywhere else.
We are already in an age where much menial work can be automated and AI seems to be well on the way to automating a lot of menial information work too. We need to focus on creating a growth mindset and a sense of wonder and curiosity that will serve the children whatever the future may hold - not just creating a holding pen so their parents can go to work.
How would this work? What about people that need to contact their parents?
We need to move away from schools just being prisons for children while parents are at work, and encourage learning and more autonomy over what to study. Imagine having full access to Coursera and EdX and being able to choose what you wanted to study and collect credits like that - building your own syllabus from some of the best educators in the world.
Let kids program video games together at school, build sensors and robots, do basic genetic engineering (e.g. plant patterns), simulate and build model bridges, etc. like stuff that is actually fun but requires basic skills. So you're not just memorising the trigonometry equations but really learning it because you need it in your projects.
And have zero tolerance for disruption and bullying with cameras, etc. It should be a place for collaborative learning, not a prison. It should feel like a much better place to learn than anywhere else.
I agree completely.
We are already in an age where much menial work can be automated and AI seems to be well on the way to automating a lot of menial information work too. We need to focus on creating a growth mindset and a sense of wonder and curiosity that will serve the children whatever the future may hold - not just creating a holding pen so their parents can go to work.