Making the change
EVER since coming into the picture, technology has not been only contributing to our lives but changing the way we live. Over the years, technology has created countless opportunities with endless resources which have practically changed the way things are rolled.
With the rate technology is evolving it is time for education to catch up with our technologically enhanced society. Our digital landscape makes it imperative for teachers do catching up as the moment we wink there is another technological advancement. Education now needs to stop living in the past and drive the future.
Students deserve a relevant, modern, customized education that helps them acquire 21st century skills. Technology can help our students better prepare for the future, and keep preparing—since learning will increasingly need to be continuous as the stunning pace of technology change further accelerates. It can empower students in developing countries such as ours by giving students quality education and lifelong learning opportunities that are the needs in the future workplace.
Employers nationwide lament a massive skills gap and teachers are in the forefront of the task to fill the gap. The hundred year old approach in teaching that sees students with varying levels of ability seated while listening before a “sage on the stage” no longer seem to work well enough.Technology may be the silver bullet to enhance the material and the way we teach. It is high time teachers change their role from content purveyors to working through the conceptual and other blockages that inhibit good learning. Teachers can use technology as an opportunity to reshape and improve the profession. It is time to stop doing things because that is how they have always been done.
Indeed learning new technology would mean changing longheld practices like changing a course to incorporate new methodologies, media, and communication strategies. It may be intimidating and daunting to teachers because they feel like they are starting over. But teaching shaped around technology is viewed to stimulate critical thinking in students and teachers; reason why teachers are now instructed to embark on the challenge of delving deeper into new technologies or rot.
In conclusion, the switch to digital classrooms can be a learning process for educators. It can be a little overwhelming for veterans teachers to learn how to use computers and tablets in the classroom that is, at times, already familiar to their students. This maybe so but still education should be at the forefront of research and innovation. If we expect the very best from our students, we put them in a system that is not far from it. Juliet RivesMamaril