From the Executive Director: January 2023
“I believe that education at its core is about self-love, curiosity,
experiences, creativity, relationships, perspective, problem-solving,
community, continual improvement, and a fight for liberation.”
—Sonn Sam, National Director of Partnerships at Big Picture Learning
New Legacy is, at its heart, a school that supports our students through a personalized approach to learning. This means that we know each individual student well; we know what interests them, how they learn best, and what their passions are. In this day and age, this personalized learning is more important than ever.
The above quotation from Sonn Sam comes from an article entitled ChatGPT and the Future of Education: Learner-Centered Approaches Leading the Way. The article talks about new Artificial Intelligence that basically can write an essay itself. More and more students are expected to begin using this and other AI as it continues to develop. Though there are beneficial applications of this technology, it will mean that students will be submitting work that is not theirs and will lose out on opportunities to practice writing and critical thinking skills.
So how can we mitigate this risk? Well, if we know students personally, we know what they know. No paper could fool us. A computer can only provide content; it is up to educators to support students in finding the context behind the content. When students learn how to take outside information and contextualize it for themselves and their own lives, they are on the path to becoming life-long learners.
Another quote from Sam states, “The days of the same content being covered over the same time period with the same group of students on the same scope and sequence are gone. Advancements in educational tech tools are allowing learners to construct and customize their own learning experiences in real-time.” New Legacy is focused on meeting students where they are in their lives and creating an individualized learning plan to meet their needs and push them to success after high school. With all the technology and tools out there for our students, I would argue that the personalized touch is more important now than ever. Students need mentors, facilitators, guides, and advisors—they need teachers.
Arthur C. Clarke stated, “Any teacher that can be replaced by a machine should be!” I agree. Teaching is an art a machine cannot do. I am so proud of our staff in their support and education of our students and proud of our students for their embrace of our learner-centered model!