Keynote Reflections

At the 2012 ISTE Conference, Dr. Yong Zhao delivered a Keynote speech focused on how the United States has lost the goal of where education should be going. According to Dr. Zhao, test scores have become the new "God" in education. However, test scores do not lead to read education. I agree with Dr. Zhao's assessment that the United States needs to focus less on pushing everyone to achieve adequate test scores and focus more on building qualities such as, confidence, passion, motivation, creativity and risk-taking.

In his speech, Dr. Zhao states that the United States has lost technology opportunities because over the last decade because we are tyring to link technology to better test scores. While countries like China are clammering "Where is our Steve Jobs?", the United States is repressing the talent and creativity that creates the confidence and passion that goes along with such entrepreural minds. Like the book, "Hanging Out, Messing Around and Geeking Out", Zhao believes technology should be used to enhance education opportunities, instead of being mandated to force students to prove their worth on core subjects. As a society, we need to work to bring the worlds of technology and education together.

According to the book, "Sociocultural approaches to learning have recognized that kids gain most of their knowledge and competencies in contexts that do not involve formal instruction." Learning happens in informal setting rather than through explicit instructional agenda. The cultural differences between countries such as the United States and China provide support for these statements. China places great emphasis on formal education practices and their test scores reflect this. However, as a society, they are not producing the creativity, enterpreneurs that they desire. By pushing education in the United States toward the more test-driven/score based results of China, we are killing the confidence, motivation and creativity that leads to great thinkers, inventers and leaders.