(By Kelly W. Hines, Keeping Kids First)
I am sitting here at my laptop, occasionally watching my Skype and Tweetdeck notifications in case I miss something from a family member or colleague, and I’m going to honestly tell you that learning in the 21st century is not about the technology. Blasphemy! my tech-savvy friends are saying. Six months ago I might have agreed, but today I’m more than willing to stand by my words.
We are hearing more and more talk recently about what learning and teaching will look like in the 21st century. What do we need to bring us into the future? What will our children need to know and be able to do? The first thing to comes to everyone’s mind is technology. We need computers. We need ipods. We need wireless connectivity. We need 1:1 initiatives. We need blogs, wikis and podcasts. While I completely agree with the fact that these are innovative tools for teaching and learning, I do not agree that these are the first things we need to initiate change in our classrooms.
Before anything else, the educational community (including state and national organizations, teacher preparation programs, and local systems) must recognize the need to change an overall approach to teaching and learning. The tools mentioned earlier, like netbooks, 1:1 initiatives, and web 2.0 tools, will not be effective vehicles for instruction without an evolution in mindset. Here is a list of four things that every teacher must recognize in order to effectively and positively impact students in a new generation of learning.
1. Teachers must be learners. As teachers, most of us have completed a specialised teacher preparation program. We have passed a test of proficiency in basic educational theory and child psychology. We have demonstrated mastery of our own content areas. Think about the teachers in your building. The years that these teachers have exited these initial requirements span decades. If you put them all in one room, you will probably find that their experiences in these areas were very different. Yet, they are all teaching children today. Teachers today must be perpetual learners who are invested in their professions. We must be up to date on current trends, research and tools. We must know what our students are doing and where they are coming from when they enter our classrooms. This learning cannot just include mandated workshops and occasional required readings. Teachers who want to be truly succesful must be voracious and self-motivated in their pursuit of evoloving understanding.
2. Learning and Teaching are not the same thing. How many times have we heard a colleague say, “I don’t know why these kids don’t get it. I’ve taught it a hundred times.” I equate teaching and learning to a basic physics principle. If an object does not move, no matter how much force has been applied, no work has been done. Therefore, if a student has not learned, not matter how much effort has been exerted, no teaching has been done. Teaching in the 21st century is going to be about working smarter and not harder. It is not about adding to our proverbial plates. We must look at learning as the product of a successful day. Learning will not look the same to all students or all teachers, but it must be the goal.
3. Technology is useless without good teaching. We have countless technological tools at our disposable today. These tools range in cost from free to thousands and thousands of dollars. When we put innovative tools in the hands of innovative teachers, amazing things can happen. If you put these tools in the hands of teachers who are not willing to innovate, money has been wasted. There are arguments against spending the money on interactive whiteboards for classrooms. At approximately $5000 each, you would think these boards would facilitate better teaching. It is not about the board. It is about proper training and mindset of a teacher who is already willing and eager to do amazing things. The lack of comprehensive and curriculum-related professional development for teachers is why schools have thousands of computers that are being used as game systems and word processors.
4. Be a 21st Century Teacher without the technology. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has published a framework for learning in the 21st century. The core outcomes for students include:
1. Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes
2. Learning and Innovation Skills
* Creativity and Innovation
* Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
* Communication and Collaboration
3. Information, Media and Technology Skills
* Information Literacy
* Media Literacy
* ICT Literacy
4. Life and Career Skills
Upon careful consideration, these are outcomes that can be achieved with little technology (excluding of course some components of the Information, Media and Technology Skills). If a teacher can find ways to prepare students with the capacity to be creative and innovative, those children will be well prepared to face the future. Teachers who customize the learning experiences of their students to involve critical thinking and problem solving are doing their students a greater favor than those who misuse technology as a means of facilitating learning. Those teachers who know how to foster communication and collaboration within their classrooms and school buildings are equipping their students with the abilities to apply these core skills to more areas in their own lives.
Now imagine a classroom where the teacher has embraced these principles. The teacher is a learner. The teacher teaches with learning in mind. 21st century skills are highlighted through facilitative leadership. These foundational components of a quality classroom experience will ensure that students value experiential and focused learning. Now if you take this teacher and introduce them to the wonders that technology offers for students, the possibilities are endless. But, it really is not about the technology.
i am currently enrolled in Edm310Until reading your post, I also would have said that technology is the most important thing in the future. In my edm310 class I am learning so much and I felt that this was the most important thing to learn.We have to know how to use technology in the future. Your four points I found very true.
As you said, teachers must be learners and with you saying that it helped me notice an important fact. As a teacher I will not know everything there is to know and along with my students, I will learn. You made a very good point with the fact that no matter how much effort is given with one teacher, if the child did not learn what he or she was suppose to have learned, the teacher has not taught anything. As a teacher I will strive to make sure the children show they have learned what has been taught. My favorite point to your post was about the technology being used. I think that what you use to teach does not matter if the teaching is not being learned by the student. This also goes along with what you about teaching when a child does not understand it. Your post has made me think on a few things and my opinion, like yours, has been changed.
Ms. Hines,
I thought your post was very thought provoking. I am a student in Dr. Strange’s EDM310 class, and we are being taught to use all sorts of technology. There are so many resources available to teachers through technology and social media that it seems that teachers may not have to work as hard to teach anymore. I am so glad that you pointed out that no amount of technology is going to be effective without good teachers.
I hope that through EDM310 and the rest of my classes here at the University of South Alabama, I can become the kind of teacher who takes the amazing tools offered through technology and uses them to be a great teacher. The link to my blog is http://mcnairkristieedm310.blogspot.com .
Hi Mrs. Hines,
I am currently enrolled in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. Dr. Strange has us read your article for a reason. I enjoyed reading your review. I completely agree with your attitude toward technology now. I was one to think since we are in the technology era that it was the most important thing needing to be used and being taught. Now I don’t think that way anymore. I see that technology needs to be used but if you can’t use the equipment properly for a useful teaching method then why use it at all. I believe that teachers most importantly are always learning something new to teach or just learning themselves. A teacher that can’t understand why the students haven’t “gotten” the material should try a different method of teaching. This way the children have different ways to look at the material and might have an easier time at understanding it. I believe you can’t force the kids to understand something if they just don’t get it. Teachers have to use different approaches to the one common goal of understanding a specific topic. I agree, that with teachers making sure they are still up to date with what they are teaching can go great boundaries especially with the technology we have today. They can be unstoppable.
Hello Mrs. Hines,
I am currently in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I would have to agree with you. It is not just about the technology and how it can better prepare students, but it is how you use it so that your children learn. You cannot go into teaching thinking it will be easy because you have technology and will make it simple for children to understand. Technology does nothing to help children, it just sits there. The teacher must make that first step to controlling the technology and useing it in a way children can learn from it.
I am going to take what I have learned from reading your post and use it in when I teach. I want my children to learn, not forget. I want to inspire them, and I want to be a great teacher. I do not want to depend on technology teaching my children, I want to teach them. I want them to learn from me and I want to be a great learner myself. You can find me on my blog at http://boneleeannedm310.blogspot.com.
I completely agree! Technology in the classroom is a complete waste of money if teachers are equipped and willing to use it and learn about it! I especially liked your first point, that teachers must be learners. I totally agree. Things change and curriculum changes and if as educators we aren’t willing to accept and learn these new things then our efforts to teach our students are pointless. You really helped me to realize that technology isn’t the most important thing, but that utilizing and learning the technology is.
I am enrolled in the University of South Alabama and I am in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class!
Ms. Hines,
I am currently enrolled in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class and let me tell you that I couldn’t agree with you more. Everyone stresses the importance of technology in education. Yet, we don’t put enough focus on reinventing the way we teach today’s generation. Until that part of education is improved, technology will never reach its full potential in the classroom. What a great perspective!
Hi I am in EDM 310 right now at University of South Alabama. As an education major I understand the importance of technology in the classroom. Although like you were saying you can give a teacher all the newest things and provide them with the best training but a teacher has to be willing to use the tools given to them. Technology may be important but in agreeing with you defiantly not the most important.
Teachers must know that the most important thing is make sure your students learn the information. That means providing the information the way that best works for your students and taking advantage of all the resources given to you. Technology in the day and age is very beneficial and teachers need to continually be learning and staying on top of the newest educational technology.
Hi Mrs. Hines! I am a student in EDM 3210 at the University of South Alabama with John Strange. This was a really thought provoking post. I completely agree that teachers should practice what they preach instead of just saying something. We really should start coming up with new ways to teach things, since technology is always improving.
Hi Ms. Hines,
My name is Rachel Saucier and I am also a student at the University of South Alabama in Dr. Strange EDM310 class. I really enjoyed reading your post because it could not be more true! I definitely believe that at a teacher it is not only your job to educate others but also help keep yourself educated. The number ways that technology can be used in the classroom is growing rapidly, but if the instructor does not know how to correctly use the technology it does no good for the students. When I was in high school I had multiple classes that had axes to a smartboard but was never used because the teacher lacked to knowledge. I think that all of the new technology that is being introduced into classrooms is amazing and I hope that more teachers will become familiar and comfortable using the technology in there own classroom!
Ms. Hines, my name is Courtney Williams and I am a student at South Alabama majoring in education. I am currently in the EDM 310 class also. I really enjoyed your post. It made me realize as a an upcoming new teacher, some things I should know. Such as I should be willing to learn as much or even more than my students. Also that everything does not have to based on technology. I can be a good teacher with use of little technology. As long as I instill communication, problem solving, and critical thinking into my students.
Hello Mrs. Hines. I am Dominique Spence. I attend the University of South Alabama where I am currently enrolled in Dr. John Strange’s EDM 310 class. After reading your post about teachers (not technology) I want to make sure I keep an open mind and put forth one hundred percent effort in learning. Most people afraid of technology and where it is going are afraid because they do not know how. Most teachers as you said have been through programs and earned degrees feeling accomplished. Time goes by and they are teaching in the traditional manner. More time passes and now technology is entering their schools, curriculum, and their classroom. They have learned all they felt they had to besides staying up to date with their subject but now they are told to learn about this new “thing” they will be using. Immediately some reject it in their minds and are unable to look at the positives of this new addition. It seems hard and time consuming and that is why some people shun the idea of having more technology in the classroom. As you said teachers first have to be learners. In order for things to work. In order to continue to grow teachers must learn so they can help the students learn. I love how you compared Newton’s Law of Motion to a student learning. You have definitely made me want to learn more so that I can use what ever software I am offered to its full potential.