Old Style Education vs the New Style Education

We are at a crossroads for learning. Students are very good at informal learning;  their interests lead them to finding resources on the internet to learn more about their interest.   This is in contrast to the formalized learning that happens in school sometimes.  Some students can bridge these two styles of learning; other students aren't successful at formal education or don't see the point in school.

Many teachers prefer the traditional method of education with the teacher at the front leading the classroom.  Students don't know what they don't know and it's important that the teacher impart some of the perspective, experience and knowledge through interesting media.

However, there are more and more voices from the progressive teachers (which are mostly online) with this view that I found on flickr:

Others prefer student lead learning with teachers as facilitators.  The epitome of student led learning and teacher facilitation is depicted in the makerspace below:

Content doesn't matter as much, as we now have access to knowledge all the time with the internet.

Skills matter more.  With the makerspace, students are creating things.  With this higher engagement, the important skills of initiative, collaboration, and perseverence are all practiced at a much higher level.  Developing these soft skills will enable them to succeed at whatever job they are placed in.

It essentially boils down to this: do we try and give students a base knowledge to start with or do we just let them lead their own education?

The answer is always the same to these new initiatives: mix i the old with the new.   I will do both because students will benefit from both.  I just hope I know how to balance it and if the time allocation is done correctly.

Very often, students don't know what they want to learn because they haven't discovered it yet.  For these students, it is my job as a teacher to show them the amazing parts of this world.  Once their interest has been captured, then it's my turn to facilitate and lead from behind and let the students lead the way.