Synthesis Paper #2

Synthesis Paper #2:

a. What will be the role/responsibility of schooling in 2025?

b. What rigorous/authentic learning experiences can teachers employ to engage all students in learning (especially those that might be otherwise left out)?

            By the year 2025. schooling will play a much different role in American culture. The higher demands placed on school systems by the No Child Left Behind Act will merely be the beginning of a new age of higher expectations and responsibilities being placed on schools.  Along with ensuring that students master the ever growing curriculum, public schools will have new standards of excellence they will be expected to meet.  In a time of such standardization, it will be important that teachers provide rigorous and/or authentic learning experiences to engage all students. To do otherwise would be to handicap our children's education and limit their competiveness in the global market.

            The number of responsibilities placed on schools by the year 2025 will be much higher then today. Schools will be expected to meet higher standards of academic excellence then they are held to today, as America tries to get back into the education race. Handing down a grade of a "C" will almost become the new "F", as teachers will be increasingly pressured to ensure that all students pass their classes. Schools will also be expected to teach their students more about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship the year 2025. As America begins to face tougher challenges, the need for patriotism and nationalist thinking will rise and schools will be expected to be the main cultivators of such feelings amongst America's youth. Furthermore, schools will be expected to

            Authentic or "real life" learning experiences will become more important by the year 2025 and will be utilized more often by teachers. As video and 3-D technologies become more advanced, teaching by "simulation" will become a revolutionary new way of integrating the authentic learning experiences by the year 2025. Imagine handing out a type of 3-D glasses to each student, and when they put on the glasses, your class is immediately transported to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, fully immersed in the event. While this notion may seem outlandish, the entire concept of "immersion" is already the focal point of our video game and movie industries today. By the year 2025, it is plausible that these technologies will be fully integrated and utilized by America's public schools on at least an intermediate basis. This will make authentic learning experiences not only more realistic, but also more engaging to students who would otherwise be left out.

            Today, teachers can already give their students authentic and rigorous learning experiences by assigning group projects, conducting problem solving "panels", taking field trips to local historical landmarks, assigning individual "inquiry based" research projects, etc. As standards increase, and technology becomes more integrated in the public school setting, it is reasonable to conclude that authentic learning experiences will play a larger role in our children's education by the year 2025, even as school responsibilities increase.