Winkle Wakes Movie Reactions

Thank you to everyone who has checked out my movie, Mr. Winkle Wakes and a special thank you to those who contributed their thoughts about the movie via Twitter, their own blogs, e-mail, comments on my blog and/or the Youtube page itself. I’m working on a sequel to the movie now. Mr. Winkle, curmudgeon though he may be, is kind of a likeable character and I hope he’ll have some suggestions for how we can modernize education in the next episode.

Go Out and Play

As a conversation starter, I was hoping that the movie would be a part of some conversations and it has begun to be…

Alec Couros wonders if students will begin to revolt and reject school if we don’t adapt.

My Spanish isn’t quite good enough to understand entirely what these guys are saying but my friend tells me they like the movie.

Criticism

Preaching to the choir is fun for awhile but I was most excited to get this e-mail which puts forth an argument challenging my wish to introduce more computer technology in schools particularly in the elementary grades:

…it makes me think of how “sterile” (for lack of a better word at the moment) we have become in education. I wonder if becoming more technological (especially in elementary years) would be beneficial. Kids need to get out and get their hands dirty, run, and learn more through play, etc.

On the other hand, having said that, I think our high school is lacking in computer and technology skills. Kids need to go outside of school to get those skills or wait until college…

I appreciate comments which cause me to clarify and justify my thinking. And this is not a new argument to me as a primary teacher. I hear it all the time as budget decisions are made regarding where to place computers.

And my response:

I agree with you about children needing time to play and get dirty. I wrote an article for my blog about utilizing play during independent work time and we’ve hardly ever missed a P.E. period. I think the film can be used as a justification for project based learning as well as technology use.

I don’t see it as an either/or proposition…students can use technology AND go out and play in the same classroom.

The problem with waiting until high school to introduce technology when working with low-income students is that many of them may drop out of high school before they reach the technology.

Many of my students don’t have access to computers or the internet at home and so they’re missing out on having a comfort level with technology that will lead directly to job skills they’ll need in the future. (Their higher income peers, of course, do have access to that technology).

I certainly understand your argument but I guess I don’t see students collaborating together on film projects or conducting research as “sterile.” I’ve visited classrooms that have one laptop per child and they’re environments where
students lead instruction, work with peers, are allowed to ask questions of their peers.

These classrooms have a warmth and excitement to them that is missing from many others.

I’ve seen the way that some first graders approach the computer already afraid of it. I think it’s important to expose younger students to it early just so that they don’t develop that fear. I know the terms are controversial but if low-income students don’t have access to computers in school many of them will be digital immigrants in a native land.