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Revision as of 21:57, 11 April 2006

The changing role of today's Teachers-

This page will explore the concept that today's students are different than the ones that our k-12 educational systems were designed to teach. Today's students have access to more information than ever before in human history. They have access to more technology than ever before but sadly in many cases these same students have to go to school and powerdown and be taught the same their parents were taught many years ago.

I will provide research based studies that state that the role of teacher needs to change to provide today's students with the information and knowledge they need to be successful in the 21st century.

Misconceptions:

I am not a classroom teacher. However, I am in a position that allows me to observe and talk to many different teachers. I am also a part of the process to help teachers grow professionally. The role of technology in the classroom is still evolving everyday. With this evolution comes a lot of pressure on a classroom teacher who already has to teach to standards, deal with administrators and parents, participate in committees, understand their students, analyze data, learn best practices and than finally keep up to speed with technology.

I want to write about the misconception that many teachers feel that they have to be an expert with technology before they can integrate technology into their instruction.

This misconception comes to many teachers naturally. The average age of teachers in my district is well over forty. An Educational Study was conducted in 1991 that states that the average age of a teacher in the United States was 41 and is on the rise. More recent information states that the average age of teachers was 46 in 2003. The point is that many teachers learned a certain way of teaching which includes them being the knowledge holder. They feel very uncomfortable being in a setting that doesn’t fit that situation. Students today were born with technology. They are digital natives. My three year old daughter already is able to load and start her games on the computer. My eight year old asked me a question last week about which planet was the coldest and which one is the hottest. I told her to look it up on the internet. Without hesitation she knew what to do.

I am almost forty years old and didn’t see a computer until I was in high school. They were the old Tandy TRS 80 computers. My first personal computer was a Commodore 64. I along with the majority of teachers are digital immigrants. The students in many cases will know more about technology or will be able to rapidly excel past their teachers in the use of technology once they are exposed the resource.

The stress caused by this misconception is a tremendous force in the schools today. Technology is everywhere. Technology is a fundamental part of almost everyone’s life. From work to play, some form of technology is involved in the process.

So, how do we relieve the stress and belief of the misconception that teachers have to be a technology expert to be a successful teacher in today’s world?

It is my opinion that teachers have to stop trying to keep up and change the way they view instruction. Teachers today should continue to grow professionally in many areas but they should not try and speak a foreign language better than someone originally from the country of technology. We immigrants will always have an accent. We must learn to adapt.

The role of the teacher needs to change from being a sage on the stage to more of facilitator. A teacher should do what they do well. Organize instruction, understand their students, differentiate their instruction based on the needs on the individual student, and prepare their students to be successful in today’s and tomorrow’s society.

Again the misconception that teachers feel they need to be a technology expert before they feel comfortable including any advanced instructional tools needs to change. The students know how they want to learn. It’s up to today’s professional teachers to adapt and provide instruction that the students expect.

In summary, misconceptions about how to integrate technology into the instructional process has created a tremendous burden on today’s teachers. Teachers need to reflect on what their role in the classroom is. Should teachers try and keep up with the digital natives (students) and become a technology expert or should they move forward with what they do well and let the students be apart of the instructional process? The text confirms that discovery methods of teaching and focusing on teaching students how to think instead of what to think has a lot of instructional benefits.

Personal Testimonies: