27SEP2014

1. Chapters in Section V identify trends and issues in IDT in various contexts: business & industry; military; health care education; P-12 education; and post-secondary education. Select at least 3 of these 5 contexts and compare/contrast the IDT trends and issues. Then explain how they are similar or different from the IDT trends and issues in the context in which you work.

Business and industry appears to be focused on profit. They expect training to be delivered fast effective and cheap. This usually means automation of learning skills. You tend to see a lot of self-paced computerized learning in business focused on delivering information and testing that the information has been delivered.

The military is involved in quite a bit of teaching. While much of the teaching and learning in the military is done “old school” with teachers and students, hands on testing. A lot more instruction is being delivered electronically. Standardized Department of Defense slideshows and interactive field training are being implemented across the branches of the military.

Post-secondary education has always been ahead of the curve in implementing new teaching and learning practices. This class is an example of this. Colleges have been innovative in delivering new forms of learning and improving on old forms.

All three of these separate contexts have a similar goal, effective teaching and learning. While there may be different end goals, profit, security, and education, the main thrust of each is the delivery of knowledge. Currently I do not work in a teaching role, I usually have to relate back to the classes I was in and taught in the Army. The end goal was always to get a soldier the knowledge to perform a task. The knowledge had to be internalized by the soldier in such a way that he/she would be able to perform the task even under pressure. In the military this is a lot more vital than in college or business, because lives may depend on a soldiers effectiveness.

2. Chapters in Section VI discuss global trends and issues in IDT. As the world’s population grows exponentially, we face unprecedented challenges that have implications for learning. How and can we prepare our youth to address the problems of living in a world with 9 billion people when the earth’s resources cannot sustain that many? Does our current education system, curriculum, and instructional practices help learners foster the complex problem-solving skills necessary to tackle these issues? Are there methods and practices used in European and Asian countries that we should use here in the US? Why or why not?

This question assumes a lot. It assumes the world’s population will continue to grow and there will not be major loss of life due to war disease or famine. Starvation is nature’s cure for overpopulation. For example if we kill off the wolves in an area, the deer population explodes and eats more than the land will support, without enough food a lot of the deer die of starvation.  Who is to say human overpopulation won’t be cured in the same way?

Regardless we are preparing our youth to address this potential problem as best we can. Creativity is stressed in schools and science and technology have been making a comeback. If all else fails we are one of the few countries that has armed citizens. Survival in a world with scarce resources may come down to who has the most weapons.

Many Asian and European countries have superior education systems, and yes we should implement their ideas. One of the most obvious to me is year round school. I have read that students spend three to four months at the beginning of each school year relearning what they forgot during the summer. This seems a waste to me. I think the nine month school year is an outdated system that should be replaced with a year round system. The nine month system was designed for a mainly agricultural society. Most of America is not agricultural anymore. It is time to revamp the system to more accurately reflect today’s society.