Social media our kids and the future for teachers

I started this morning reading an article on Tony Little and how he sees social media playing a role in young people's lives and society on honeykidsasia.com. I then read an article in today's Gulf News 29/12/16 about online tutors being the way of the future replacing teachers. There is certainly an argument that removing the human element might eliminate mistakes and allow for a more individual approach.

This evening I then watched a video clip by Simon Sinek on Millennials in the Workplace and the elements that his research has shown to be lacking in children coming out of the education system. As Tony Little states an education system should be judged not by the children that it turns out when they leave school but how those students turn out when they are 30, 40 or 50.

Simon's presentation highlighted that no matter how much time we move into a virtual world, schools still provide the human element that our learners need to succeed in life. It also raises the challenge to schools about the essence of our curriculum and the value of the soft skills that you need in human interaction and guidance to develop them. Beyond skills, it also challenges the weight that is put on assessment regimes that don't take the whole child into consideration.

An education, understanding the learning process, and how these apply in a virtual world to empower learning is the essence of a quality education. Social media is not a replacement for the human element that builds well rounded empowered individuals, It is a tool that enhances learning and not something that we should be scared of.
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