Currently technology is giving all countries in the world opportunities they never had before. Many countries which may not have had the privileges American are now rising up to this new even playing field. If America wants to keep up with these rapidly improving countries, we will have to rethink our education system.
Learning is happening more and more outside of the schoolroom walls. Learners are striving to become lifelong learners to better themselves and continue their formal and informal education. I believe that technology has the opportunity to excel this process in two main ways. Using technology educators are able to reach more people than before and they are able to connect with those people more effectively. Not all technology can magically do this. To do these things effectively it requires educators who are creative, forward thinking, and reflective to create environments where students and technology can best utilize each other.
One part of using technology to connect with learners better is through motivation. Students are extremely interested in using technology. The k-12 students in today’s classroom have grown up using most of these technologies and they have become second nature to them. When teachers discourage students from using the tools which they have come to know and love, it conflicts with the student’s interests. Creating learning environments which are anti-interesting for students is not motivational at all. Even when traditional teachers do incorporate technology into the classroom, sometimes it is not enough. Students may not quite admit it, but deep down they are up for challenges. When a teacher is able to incorporate innovative technology, in a useful way, which is new to the students they will rise to the challenge. If it is useful to their future and they find it interesting, it can be very rewarding when they are finished with the project and they have learned something new. It is intrinsically motivational when they feel this reward. This motivation can be contagious to other learners. All in all it leads to connecting with more learners.
As an educator I want to prepare students for their lives once they leave my classroom and the k-12 system. Whether their post high school plans are formal higher education, the workforce, life skills, or informal lifelong learning I want to get them pumped for what I have to share with them because they understand why it will be relevant in their lives. I want to prepare them for their future, not my past. The way I plan to do this is by teaching them the process of how to learn, not to focus on the “knowledge” of knowing the facts that will help them do better on the Final Jeopardy question. Teaching processes will go great in my science classroom because I am already teaching them the process of science!
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