The digital revolution has hit education, with more and more classrooms plugged into the whole wired world. But are schools making the most of new technologies? Are they tapping into the learning potential of today's Firefox/Facebook/cell phone generation? Have schools fallen through the crack of the digital divide? In Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology, Allan Collins and Richard Halverson argue that the knowledge revolution has transformed our jobs, our homes, our lives, and therefore must also transform our schools. Much like after the school-reform movement of the industrial revolution, our society is again poised at the edge of radical change. To keep pace with a globalized technological culture, we must rethink how we educate the next generation or America will be left behind. This groundbreaking book offers a vision for the future of American education that goes well beyond the walls of the classroom to include online social networks, distance learning with anytime, anywhere access, digital home schooling models, video-game learning environments, and more.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
A breakthrough book that goes well beyond the idea of adding technology to existing schools. This will be a must read for my students and research collaborators. --John Bransford, University of Washington, author of How People Learn and Preparing Teachers for a Changing World
If you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter
The most convincing account I've read about how education will change in the decades ahead the authors' analyses are impressive, fair-minded, and useful. --Howard Gardner, Harvard Graduate School of Education, author of Five Minds for the Future and Frames of Mind
A breakthrough book that goes well beyond the idea of adding technology to existing schools. This will be a must read for my students and research collaborators. --John Bransford, University of Washington, author of How People Learn and Preparing Teachers for a Changing World
If you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter
''Thoughtful and accessible...brings fresh insight into the question of what the implications of digital technologies are for education.'' --E-Learning and Digital Media
If you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter
''[The authors] make the case for a technology-based revolution in education that will redefine conceptions of how and where learning occurs.'' --CHOICE Magazine
If you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter
''A fascinating account of how schools are functioning within a technology driven world, and what can be done to bridge the gap between in-school and out-of-school learning.'' --Journal of Language and Literacy Education
If you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter
''A fascinating account of how schools are functioning within a technology driven world, and what can be done to bridge the gap between in-school and out-of-school learning.'' --Journal of Language and Literacy Education
If you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter
If you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter
The most convincing account I've read about how education will change in the decades ahead the authors' analyses are impressive, fair-minded, and useful. --Howard Gardner, Harvard Graduate School of Education, author of Five Minds for the Future and Frames of Mind
A breakthrough book that goes well beyond the idea of adding technology to existing schools. This will be a must read for my students and research collaborators. --John Bransford, University of Washington, author of How People Learn and Preparing Teachers for a Changing World
If you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter
''Thoughtful and accessible...brings fresh insight into the question of what the implications of digital technologies are for education.'' --E-Learning and Digital Media
If you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter
''[The authors] make the case for a technology-based revolution in education that will redefine conceptions of how and where learning occurs.'' --CHOICE Magazine
If you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter
''A fascinating account of how schools are functioning within a technology driven world, and what can be done to bridge the gap between in-school and out-of-school learning.'' --Journal of Language and Literacy Education
If you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter
''A fascinating account of how schools are functioning within a technology driven world, and what can be done to bridge the gap between in-school and out-of-school learning.'' --Journal of Language and Literacy Education
If you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter
About the Author
Allan Collins is professor emeritus of education and social policy at Northwestern University and former co-director of the U.S. Department of Education s Center for Technology in Education. Richard Halverson is an associate professor of educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin Madison, where he is co-founder of the Games, Learning and Society group.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Collins and Halverson raise many legitimate points in this book, but there are also some points of contention that remain unresolved. Although this book proposes few definite answers, it opens up lively discussion for rethinking education in the information age, and it is an essential read for future educators because it outlines very convincingly that schools are following an outdated model and should be reformed. However, the solutions that Collins and Halverson propose will remain points of contention for time to come, and many people will remain skeptical.
This book does an excellent job of outlining the problem in an easy-to-understand way: In short, the school system as we know it was formed during the Industrial Revolution, and it is designed to efficiently transmit information from the teacher to the students in large numbers. It is clear that the Industrial Age is over, and we are now well into the Information Age, and we see youth becoming a lot more involved in exchanging information and knowledge over the web than before. Consequently, we are finding that students are learning much more in these informal environments because they are voluntarily engaging in information which they find interesting, so Collins and Halverson propose that education should become less institutionalized and more personalized.
Essentially, Collins and Halverson propose that technology allows personalized instruction to large numbers of students, and education should look more like home-schooling or apprenticeship, in which students decide the terms and conditions of their learning rather than following a prescribed route. This will promote a higher degree of specialization, and "just-in-case" learning would no longer be relevant. Because students would be focusing on what interests them, they would be more motivated to learn, but this model leaves many future educators uneasy.
However, this book also does a fair job of outlining what may be lost from that proposed model of education, but there are many possible losses that Collins and Halverson did not address or resolve. Some future educators ponder about what would happen to the generalists if this model of personalized online instruction takes place, but it is not likely that generalists would disappear, and in world with such good communication, there would not really be a need for them. Also, when it comes to educating students about prejudice, tolerence, and social justice, schools have been the most effective means because they provide a common space for a diversity of students to interact, but the book does not address this. And finally, this book mentions nothing about physical education. Schools are typically an excellent institution for students to get involved with physical activity and sports, and this book does not address it at all. Although I would not agree entirely with the proposed solutions, I believe this book is an overall worthwhile read that should be taken with a grain of salt.
One significant qualm that I have with this book is that I find it to be polarizing: It offers perspectives from Technology Enthusiasts and Skeptics without offering a middleground or even explain why or if these two sides are incompatible. The authors present both sides fairly, but it is pretty clear which sides the authors are on. Although these authors are highly knowledgeable and offer a lot of valuable insight, I treat this polarization only as an organizational tool that helps me read and digest information, so I take nothing at face value.
Nonetheless, I would recommend this to any serious educator or future educator because the insights provocative and valuable, but this book should not be read passively like a novel. Anybody who reads this should be prepared to critique this book very carefully and open up lively discussions about rethinking education.
This book does an excellent job of outlining the problem in an easy-to-understand way: In short, the school system as we know it was formed during the Industrial Revolution, and it is designed to efficiently transmit information from the teacher to the students in large numbers. It is clear that the Industrial Age is over, and we are now well into the Information Age, and we see youth becoming a lot more involved in exchanging information and knowledge over the web than before. Consequently, we are finding that students are learning much more in these informal environments because they are voluntarily engaging in information which they find interesting, so Collins and Halverson propose that education should become less institutionalized and more personalized.
Essentially, Collins and Halverson propose that technology allows personalized instruction to large numbers of students, and education should look more like home-schooling or apprenticeship, in which students decide the terms and conditions of their learning rather than following a prescribed route. This will promote a higher degree of specialization, and "just-in-case" learning would no longer be relevant. Because students would be focusing on what interests them, they would be more motivated to learn, but this model leaves many future educators uneasy.
However, this book also does a fair job of outlining what may be lost from that proposed model of education, but there are many possible losses that Collins and Halverson did not address or resolve. Some future educators ponder about what would happen to the generalists if this model of personalized online instruction takes place, but it is not likely that generalists would disappear, and in world with such good communication, there would not really be a need for them. Also, when it comes to educating students about prejudice, tolerence, and social justice, schools have been the most effective means because they provide a common space for a diversity of students to interact, but the book does not address this. And finally, this book mentions nothing about physical education. Schools are typically an excellent institution for students to get involved with physical activity and sports, and this book does not address it at all. Although I would not agree entirely with the proposed solutions, I believe this book is an overall worthwhile read that should be taken with a grain of salt.
One significant qualm that I have with this book is that I find it to be polarizing: It offers perspectives from Technology Enthusiasts and Skeptics without offering a middleground or even explain why or if these two sides are incompatible. The authors present both sides fairly, but it is pretty clear which sides the authors are on. Although these authors are highly knowledgeable and offer a lot of valuable insight, I treat this polarization only as an organizational tool that helps me read and digest information, so I take nothing at face value.
Nonetheless, I would recommend this to any serious educator or future educator because the insights provocative and valuable, but this book should not be read passively like a novel. Anybody who reads this should be prepared to critique this book very carefully and open up lively discussions about rethinking education.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By David Foster
Format:Hardcover
Collins and Halverson have provided a timely and realistic perspective on educational technology that gets us past both the exuberant and the despairing views. There certainly is much more that can and should be said about the many topics they discuss, but I think they've successfully located the "core" of the matter, and with welcome brevity.
Being personally experienced in this field, I'd just offer two or three criticisms. The first is their assumption that interactive learning programs will play a large role in the future of education. I imagine that they eventually will, but after at least thirty years of research and experimentation with such environments, I am impressed by how limited their real-world success has been. The commercial successes have been in the teaching of math, but besides that there's still a surprising lack of good, usable programs.
Which leads to a more general comment about the way they characterize the "skeptics'" perspective. The authors stress the institutional obstacles, but I don't ever hear them acknowledge that making all these different ed tech ideas work "at scale" is much, much harder than it looks. We want to lament schools' intransigence, and cultural issues, and misguided policies about standards, and etc... but maybe most of what has been offered to schools is bad and unworkable. It doesn't _seem_ unworkable to most of us, but most of it really has been.
What may have been helpful in this book would have been an attempt, however speculative, at estimating the time frames likely to be involved in the proliferation of these new forms, i.e. learning centers, distance education, interactive simulations, certifications, etc. Are these changes 5 years away? 20? 100? The historical framework described by Collins and Halverson seems right, but I left wanting to hear more about their third "lifelong learning" era.
Still, I think the book is groundbreaking and will provide the basis for all future discussions about this topic. And, with these particular authors' reputation and experience, I am inclined to trust their vision more than I would if someone else had written it.
Being personally experienced in this field, I'd just offer two or three criticisms. The first is their assumption that interactive learning programs will play a large role in the future of education. I imagine that they eventually will, but after at least thirty years of research and experimentation with such environments, I am impressed by how limited their real-world success has been. The commercial successes have been in the teaching of math, but besides that there's still a surprising lack of good, usable programs.
Which leads to a more general comment about the way they characterize the "skeptics'" perspective. The authors stress the institutional obstacles, but I don't ever hear them acknowledge that making all these different ed tech ideas work "at scale" is much, much harder than it looks. We want to lament schools' intransigence, and cultural issues, and misguided policies about standards, and etc... but maybe most of what has been offered to schools is bad and unworkable. It doesn't _seem_ unworkable to most of us, but most of it really has been.
What may have been helpful in this book would have been an attempt, however speculative, at estimating the time frames likely to be involved in the proliferation of these new forms, i.e. learning centers, distance education, interactive simulations, certifications, etc. Are these changes 5 years away? 20? 100? The historical framework described by Collins and Halverson seems right, but I left wanting to hear more about their third "lifelong learning" era.
Still, I think the book is groundbreaking and will provide the basis for all future discussions about this topic. And, with these particular authors' reputation and experience, I am inclined to trust their vision more than I would if someone else had written it.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent, thoughtful book about schooling and the changes in technologies: networks, cell phones, simulations and games; and their effects around the edges of school systems. The authors are a technologist and an educator and together they bring balance and insight into this formidable jungle of interwoven influences and possibilities. It is well worth reading if you too are a thoughtful parent or grandparent and want to prepare yourself and your children for the future. If you are a teacher or educational leader, you must read this book.
They are best at describing succinctly all the changes going on and the virtual absence of response by schools, who are "locked in place". Their short history of schooling in America is a glorious thumbnail of the important events that provides the dominant theme of transition between apprenticeship, didactic learning in the industrial age, and the beginnings of an information age that is in evolution. They think they discern the directions that are important, the changes nibbling at the edge of school systems, and they lay them out clearly under several headings such as home schooling, workplace learning, distance ed, adult ed, learning centers, internet cafes, interactive learning environments, technical certifications, and lifelong learning. Each of these are short and to the point, presenting just the main skeleton to sustain their arguments. Anything more and the reader would be bogged down in complexities.
For me, their main points are old hat. This is a history I have lived and am all too familiar with. I was surprised then to find a set of presecriptions that actually began to make sense of this morass and offered some hope for a real future. This then was the reason for the lucid but simplistic presentation of arguments that preceded their ideas for how schools may be able to cope. The proposals are well worth reading and thinking about. The main proposal they make is to create a national set of credentials that could be administered online on any learning center or school by trained professionals. Why this might work and why it is a good idea are admirably well explained in the book. It is worth a shot. I hope there are leaders out there who will take it, and I hope you will help them.
As a scientist, I cannot in all good conscience leave a good thing alone. I have to critique it to death. In order to simplify their arguments they have deliberately ignored what schools and new technologies are going to do in the next decade. This is perhaps with good reason. If you look at books like Nickerson's Technology in Education: 2020 written in 1988 you get a good idea why prognostication is risky. So much has happened they couldn't foresee that what they predict is only accurate because so little has actually changed in education while the world outside has been so transformed only Dick Tracy would recognize it.
Nevertheless, a book like this has to deal with future technologies if it wants to have any credibility for its policy recommendations. And there are so many possible or even likely changes that will undermine many of the themes in the book. Cell phones that are more than smart phones, but tv, media, social network, internet,workstation and library centers are obvious changes to come and they truly jeopardize these recommendations within the next 10 years. But computing itself is likely to change fundamentally from digital computers to neural computers that think and talk and engage students in converstations, companionship, learning assistants, and more. How long they will be in coming is not clear but in 10 years it will be very clear.
Of course, you don't need to know exactly what these changes in technology will be to begin to prosyletize for changes in the school system. The immediate changes described in this book should be enough to drive you to the local school board and demand some awareness and response. But it does not take much extrapolation to know that these changes are the leading edge of a seachange, and if we are as flexible and responsive as we think we are, it is time for us to assert ourselves as the creative class and demand new policies.
They are best at describing succinctly all the changes going on and the virtual absence of response by schools, who are "locked in place". Their short history of schooling in America is a glorious thumbnail of the important events that provides the dominant theme of transition between apprenticeship, didactic learning in the industrial age, and the beginnings of an information age that is in evolution. They think they discern the directions that are important, the changes nibbling at the edge of school systems, and they lay them out clearly under several headings such as home schooling, workplace learning, distance ed, adult ed, learning centers, internet cafes, interactive learning environments, technical certifications, and lifelong learning. Each of these are short and to the point, presenting just the main skeleton to sustain their arguments. Anything more and the reader would be bogged down in complexities.
For me, their main points are old hat. This is a history I have lived and am all too familiar with. I was surprised then to find a set of presecriptions that actually began to make sense of this morass and offered some hope for a real future. This then was the reason for the lucid but simplistic presentation of arguments that preceded their ideas for how schools may be able to cope. The proposals are well worth reading and thinking about. The main proposal they make is to create a national set of credentials that could be administered online on any learning center or school by trained professionals. Why this might work and why it is a good idea are admirably well explained in the book. It is worth a shot. I hope there are leaders out there who will take it, and I hope you will help them.
As a scientist, I cannot in all good conscience leave a good thing alone. I have to critique it to death. In order to simplify their arguments they have deliberately ignored what schools and new technologies are going to do in the next decade. This is perhaps with good reason. If you look at books like Nickerson's Technology in Education: 2020 written in 1988 you get a good idea why prognostication is risky. So much has happened they couldn't foresee that what they predict is only accurate because so little has actually changed in education while the world outside has been so transformed only Dick Tracy would recognize it.
Nevertheless, a book like this has to deal with future technologies if it wants to have any credibility for its policy recommendations. And there are so many possible or even likely changes that will undermine many of the themes in the book. Cell phones that are more than smart phones, but tv, media, social network, internet,workstation and library centers are obvious changes to come and they truly jeopardize these recommendations within the next 10 years. But computing itself is likely to change fundamentally from digital computers to neural computers that think and talk and engage students in converstations, companionship, learning assistants, and more. How long they will be in coming is not clear but in 10 years it will be very clear.
Of course, you don't need to know exactly what these changes in technology will be to begin to prosyletize for changes in the school system. The immediate changes described in this book should be enough to drive you to the local school board and demand some awareness and response. But it does not take much extrapolation to know that these changes are the leading edge of a seachange, and if we are as flexible and responsive as we think we are, it is time for us to assert ourselves as the creative class and demand new policies.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
An average resource
This was a required text for a course on leading technology change in school settings. A few odd references that hinge on negative ethnic stereotypes aside, this book was of some... Read more
Published 29 days ago by Corinna E Crafton
3.0 out of 5 stars
No Kindle version?
What, a book named "Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology" doesn't have a Kindle version? What's a technophile to do?
Published 2 months ago by L. Dakin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Collins & Halverson look where we've come from before they surmise...
Collins & Halverson step back and take broad view of where education has come from before then moving forward and prognosticating on the future of education "in the age of... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Corrie Campbell
5.0 out of 5 stars
The link between the past and the future of education!
The well-balanced and insightful ideas presented in this book are a must-read for all school leaders. The authors' work is provocative, thoughtful and inspiring. Read more
Published 13 months ago by staceypacer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology: The Digital Revolution...
Excellent book to learn about the technology era that exist knowadays!!!! Great explanations in all the chapters and great examples to understand the material!
Published 15 months ago by Sugeily M. Rosario Vera
4.0 out of 5 stars
good book
quick and safe delivery.
book in good conditions, the paper is not very good and the cover is very soft. nice to travel with.
book in good conditions, the paper is not very good and the cover is very soft. nice to travel with.
Published 22 months ago by Ana Nunes
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fighting on Even Ground
Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology, Collins and Halverson point to the many arguments that skeptics to the use of technology in classrooms make; from a decline in... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Robert W.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Presenting Today's Situation - Highly Reccomend
Collins and Halverson have great depth in the area of education reform. This book not only reviews education's past, it also describes today's present situation in with digital... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Stewart MacLean
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reinventing American Education
Technology has changed not only educational practices and structures, but also the nature of learning and the role that schools now play in facilitating learning. Read more
Published 23 months ago by JulieLT
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book for teachers and students alike!
I read the entire book, but my main focus was Collins chapter 9. I thought that overall the book was fantastic and will really help me as an educator with those technology... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Carissa T.
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