"Maurilio Suárez advocates for the elimination of outdated educational models, stating they should be put to rest for the sake of progress."
In a rousing presentation at the Book Fair, Mexican educator Maurilio Suárez, a cybernetics engineer and professor, stirred the pot at Ticmas' Educational Innovation Seminar with representatives from Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico. His focus was the integration of technology in education, specifically exploring the generational divide shaping classrooms today.
Addressing the capacity crowd, Suárez quipped, "Teaching in Latin America is for the insane," delivering countless provocations to challenge traditional education structures. His intimate discourse touched upon three fundamental pillars of classroom interaction: the relational dimension, the pragmatic or pedagogical dimension, and the epistemological dimension, related to knowledge.
Diving into the relational dimension, Suárez highlighted the clash between generations as he outlined six distinct generations now intermingling in classrooms. Consider the digital natives, those born within the internet era, and their counterparts, the digital immigrants, those who've adapted to it, but not necessarily born into it. Emphasizing his point, he shared that an accent follows an immigrant, regardless of where they settle, and the same holds true for embracing the digital world.
In his discussion of the pragmatic dimension, Suárez spoke about pedagogical distance and questioned the persistence of antiquated educational structures. He challenged the classic teaching model, advocating formethodologies more appropriate for the digital age. To accommodate the hypertextual, hyperactive, multitasking, and fast-paced learning style of today's students, he promoted the practice of mindfulness, fostering group collaboration, and exploring multiple learning perspectives.
Wrapping up, Suárez posed crucial challenges for educators. First, bid farewell to the "it's always been done this way" mindset, adopting what he dubbed as "CAR methodologies: cooperative, active, and reflective." Furthermore, emphasizing the talks that preceded him, he underlined the importance of learning by doing and the STEM education approach for nurturing critical thinking skills, particularly in the face of artificial intelligence advancements. Ultimately, Suárez sent a clear, urgent message to reimagine education from its roots.
- Maurilio Suárez, an educator from Mexico, emphasized the significance of integrating technology into education, particularly in bridging the generational divide in Uruguayan classrooms, during the Ticmas' Educational Innovation Seminar.
- In his discussion of the pragmatic dimension, Suárez advocated for abandoning the "classic teaching model" and embracing innovative teaching strategies tailored for the digital age.
- Suárez highlighted the importance of the relational dimension in education and contrasted digital natives, born into the internet era, with digital immigrants, emphasizing the persistence of cultural differences even in the digital world.
- To ensure the development of critical thinking skills in the face of artificial intelligence advancements, Suárez urged educators to promote STEM education, encourage learning through doing, and adopt CAR methodologies focusing on cooperation, activity, and reflection, thus reimagining education from its roots.
