Crossmedial teaching: the university's interface

When looking at new developments in technology and the possibilities to apply new ideas the educational system seems to be a popular field for opinions and experiments. The introduction of the computer into schools not only had a big impact within the classroom it also opened a wide range of discussions on classic education versus newer ways of teaching. We should off-course keep looking at educational strategies and learning styles continuously and try to improve them where possible. Many influential thinkers have interesting and appealing new ideas on the impact of the internet on our lives, or even broader, on life, the universe and everything. I think its great to discuss those ideas at conferences, but we should not turn our school system into some lab setup using a generation of students as our lab rats. Many ideas seem plausible at first sight but actually only apply to a very small group of top students. Or to no students at all. In fact most of the world changing new ideas on education are driven by an ideology, in this case the ideology of technology. Is our youth fundamentally different from previous generations? Do we need to change the way students and teachers interact now we have this great interactive thing called internet? Here's a reality check from my teaching experience.

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