Well Informed 2.0 - "Education"
Since day one, achieving an education has always been important to me. One main reason I believe it has been vital to me for so long is because of the influence my parents had on me while growing up. They both have masters degrees from great Universities and still today, continue to stress the value in gaining a higher education; in whatever that may be.
Something I have learned while being in college is the value in critical thinking. A few questions that have come to mind while researching this topic are: "How can the education system improve?" "What is working, and what is not working within the system?" "What is the value in gaining a college degree?" "Is it worth it?" "How can I efficiently achieve a valuable personalized education?" Another question that really hit me hard while watching "Education vs The Courts", was when Prince EA argues against education asking, "Do you prepare students for the future, or the past" (Education vs The Courts).
I believe in order for an individual to become more enthralled and intelligent, they must first learn basic skills and knowledge. This is where education comes into play. The problem we are faced with in regards to education is how general it has become. I agree with a lot of Price EA's arguments throughout the video. He brings up a lot of valid points. An example he uses in the video is if a doctor was to prescribe the same medicine to all of his patients the outcome would be horrific, yet this is what we do in schools. In schools right now, everyone learns through one teacher. It is very limited.
Each student has different learning styles, strengths and weaknesses. How are we suppose to grow in this type of environment? We have the capability to change the world. I believe we can do this through properly educating people. Education unlocks success. The very first thing Prince EA states in his message is "Albert Einstein once said, Everybody's a genius, but if you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree, it will live it's whole life believing it is stupid."
Picture me as the fish, and the ACT as the tree. I do not believe I am accurately represented by my ACT score. I'm not stupid, but when it comes to tests, sometimes I psych myself out. Even when I know the correct answer. It's rough. I ended up taking the ACT 5 different times in my high school career. You might be thinking, "Ally, why on earth would you put yourself through that?" Good question. I took it 5 times because I did not like my first score of 18, and I knew that score would not suffuse if I wanted to get any type of academic scholarship, or in some cases, even get accepted into a University. It's not that I wasn't smart or able, I just didn't know how to test well. I was a hard worker, dedicated to my studies. My grades were good, I graduated Magna Cum Laude and on the High Honor role. I found it interesting in the video when EA shared this quote from the man who invented standardized testing. He said, "These tests are too crude to be used, and should be abandoned." - Frederick J. Kelly. Mr. Kelly, I couldn't agree more. I took an ACT prep course, hired a tutor to help me and I still felt overwhelmed and unprepared while taking the ACT. The thing is, I want to be tested and challenged on my knowledge, but there's got to be a better way then a four hour test, that is timed and difficult to understand.
In the professionally opinionated article from Hacker and Dreifus it states similar thoughts. Throughout the article, it continually states how colleges should teach their students to properly "use their minds" more effectively. I think we should do this from day one. We need to make not only colleges, but also K-12 an active learning environment with willing participation from the students attending, making students feel challenged yet relaxed in the classroom. If we do this from a young age, students will be more prepared and receive a higher quality of education. "While students are 20% of our population, they are 100% of our future" (Education vs The Courts). We need to invest in our future.
Hacker and Dreifus go on to tell about the continuous rise in college tuition. Nowadays, it costs nearly twice as much to attend a University. Though all colleges are quite a bit of money, they vary in price. This plays a massive part in the decision making process one has on deciding where to attend school to further their education, or, if they even decide to go on. Generally, accredited Universities are more expensive. The reason being is they have a higher paid administration and staff that teach a wider range of topics, but this does not mean they are always better. This is important to remember. The cost you pay doesn't always reflect the education you will receive. This is one of many reasons why I love Dixie State University so much. We are the least expensive University in the state of Utah, but I feel that I am getting the best type of education I can because it it more personalized through smaller class sizes. At Dixie, I feel like a name, not a number.
The issue many students face today is that they cannot afford to go these Universities because of the debt they would incur from taking out student loans. Is it fully worth it in the end? Though the cost can be extreme in some cases, commonly, the more education one acquires, the more money one will make in their lifetime. This day in age is expensive and the prices of life aren't going to go down. It is a lot easier to assist yourself in life if you have graduated from college. Even though achieving a degree will not guarantee you a job. I do believe that college is worth the money. It's an investment in yourself. Having a general idea of concepts is important to expand your view and maybe uncover something new that you are now interested in. "Now we need people who think creatively innovativly, critically, independently with the ability to connect" (Education vs The Courts).
Something I have learned while being in college is the value in critical thinking. A few questions that have come to mind while researching this topic are: "How can the education system improve?" "What is working, and what is not working within the system?" "What is the value in gaining a college degree?" "Is it worth it?" "How can I efficiently achieve a valuable personalized education?" Another question that really hit me hard while watching "Education vs The Courts", was when Prince EA argues against education asking, "Do you prepare students for the future, or the past" (Education vs The Courts).
I believe in order for an individual to become more enthralled and intelligent, they must first learn basic skills and knowledge. This is where education comes into play. The problem we are faced with in regards to education is how general it has become. I agree with a lot of Price EA's arguments throughout the video. He brings up a lot of valid points. An example he uses in the video is if a doctor was to prescribe the same medicine to all of his patients the outcome would be horrific, yet this is what we do in schools. In schools right now, everyone learns through one teacher. It is very limited.
Each student has different learning styles, strengths and weaknesses. How are we suppose to grow in this type of environment? We have the capability to change the world. I believe we can do this through properly educating people. Education unlocks success. The very first thing Prince EA states in his message is "Albert Einstein once said, Everybody's a genius, but if you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree, it will live it's whole life believing it is stupid."
In the professionally opinionated article from Hacker and Dreifus it states similar thoughts. Throughout the article, it continually states how colleges should teach their students to properly "use their minds" more effectively. I think we should do this from day one. We need to make not only colleges, but also K-12 an active learning environment with willing participation from the students attending, making students feel challenged yet relaxed in the classroom. If we do this from a young age, students will be more prepared and receive a higher quality of education. "While students are 20% of our population, they are 100% of our future" (Education vs The Courts). We need to invest in our future.
Hacker and Dreifus go on to tell about the continuous rise in college tuition. Nowadays, it costs nearly twice as much to attend a University. Though all colleges are quite a bit of money, they vary in price. This plays a massive part in the decision making process one has on deciding where to attend school to further their education, or, if they even decide to go on. Generally, accredited Universities are more expensive. The reason being is they have a higher paid administration and staff that teach a wider range of topics, but this does not mean they are always better. This is important to remember. The cost you pay doesn't always reflect the education you will receive. This is one of many reasons why I love Dixie State University so much. We are the least expensive University in the state of Utah, but I feel that I am getting the best type of education I can because it it more personalized through smaller class sizes. At Dixie, I feel like a name, not a number.
The issue many students face today is that they cannot afford to go these Universities because of the debt they would incur from taking out student loans. Is it fully worth it in the end? Though the cost can be extreme in some cases, commonly, the more education one acquires, the more money one will make in their lifetime. This day in age is expensive and the prices of life aren't going to go down. It is a lot easier to assist yourself in life if you have graduated from college. Even though achieving a degree will not guarantee you a job. I do believe that college is worth the money. It's an investment in yourself. Having a general idea of concepts is important to expand your view and maybe uncover something new that you are now interested in. "Now we need people who think creatively innovativly, critically, independently with the ability to connect" (Education vs The Courts).
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