As a classroom teacher, the drive to find new techniques and innovations that will increase student motivation has been a driving force behind classroom purchases. As I face each new year, I find that the students I encounter are not that different from previous years, but their preferred mode of learning has changed. When I look back on the teaching methods I received in high school, I remember sitting and listening while my teachers lectured for the entire class period. In comparison to those days, I find that today’s students are more interested in classroom tools that allow them to interact with one another and learn by doing.
The concept of providing hands on experiences for digital learners is a reality today. Just within the past ten years, technology has changed to the extent that I can provide engaging activities to my students, in and out of the classroom. The disruption that has occurred with regard to technology in the classroom is tremendous. Technology has created a world where teachers can provide instruction, facilitate learning, and engage in meaningful discussion with students thanks to a variety of classroom tools and online curriculum. Students are no longer tied to the sage on the stage. They have the ability to search out new information on their own. As well, the teacher has the benefit of engaging with students on a new level as a facilitator of learning. Watch the following video to see how technology has reinvented my classroom and reinvented the way my district looks at technology:
This looks great. Nice job on the video, very impressive. I like how you connected this with how you were taught in high school and have moved on to see what is going to be in the future for learning.
ReplyDeleteYou ask, "How will students learn 10 years from now?"
ReplyDeleteI believe you already have a good idea of the answer.
Nice video. Well done. A question I was asked at the beginning of my educational technology journey prompted me to consider whether technology actually "improved" learning.
Most agree it is engaging. But does it help us learn better, deeper, quicker, etc. ??
I challenge you to consider carefully how you will answer this question. Your district "sees" technology differently, as you noted above. But eventually, as was the case in Britain, they will ask this question.