If you walk into almost any classroom today you can quickly see that yes, we are teaching differently. We can say that because we see computers, LCD projectors, smart boards, digital cameras etc. being used by teachers and students. Computers and LCD projectors have replaced overhead projectors (but, not entirely), smart boards have replaced chalk boards, cameras have replaced markers and colored pencils for drawing and we could go on. The question still remains about the effectiveness of the use of technology in many schools.
Is technology changing the way we teach has a whole new meaning after reading Siemens, Knowing Knowledge, The Flow of Knowledge. He states that "we have always had access to more knowledge than we were able to handle. It has intensified in our generation." The human brain cannot handle the amount of knowledge available to us today, if we considered knowledge the amount of information you know and have stored for retreival later. It is becoming apparent today that knowledge is more of the idea that one possesses the skills to obtain knowledge rather than a collection of information.
"Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today. When knowledge is needed, but not known, the ability to plug into sources to meet the requirements becomes vital. As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses."
As a teacher, that is a powerful statement, something to ponder. It makes me question how I teach, am I preparing the students to have the skills to obtain knowledge rather than feeding them knowledge? Has technology changed the way we teach, in some ways, but are we as teachers really preparing the students for the 21st century? Is "know where" replacing 'know what" and "know how"?
Are you ready to grow? What's holding you back?
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2 comments:
I admire the thoughts, Sharon! We should be teaching students the 21st Century skills necessary to retrieve information and think for themselves. However, too often, teachers are not necessarily changing the way they teach, they are just using more expensive tools teach in a traditional manner. If a multimedia projector is simply replacing an overhead or an interactive white board is replacing a chalkboard, then teachers are not utilizing the tools around them effectively. They are not changing the way they teach. We need to engage students differently, teach students differently, and truly reflect on our own teaching. I applaud your own reflection and drive to change the way we teach our students in the classroom.
There is no question that we need to change the way we teach. I was having a discussion with my 30 year old son recently about our course and how different classrooms are going to look in the future. He mentioned a professor that he had that was quite obviously using notes that he had had for years. Stagnant comes to mind. It's so easy to keep going back to lesson plans that have always worked, but the time has come to think outside the box and thankfully there are lots of educators doing just that.
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