Moving Toward a Tech'd World
Technology is here, and it isn't going anywhere. The INTERNET is literally in our pockets all the time. Even classrooms are becoming connected! But the technology moves faster than the ideas as to what to do with that tech. That is where teachers like myself come in. It is our mission to figure out the best way to use our time and resources as educators to most effectively teach students the skills they will need to succeed in today's world. While tech has moved in and is here to stay, that does not mean that we should fear it!
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Brain Wiring
"Back in my day..." is something I am hearing a lot more of lately. And sure, things have always been different back in someone's day, but this is a legitimate thing that we can say now! While change ALWAYS happens, we have seen changes bursting in at alarming rates! In a matter of decades, we went from dial-up to WiFi faster than you can say, "You've Got Mail!" And with such changes, our little ones are wired differently at birth. They never knew a time when the world was slower... It has always been connected! And we, as educators, must accept that paradigm shift rather than fight it! Their brains are structured like a web browser with 35 tabs open at once... Let's do our best to turn into that skid rather than turn the car off!!!
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Project Based Learning / Hands on
Direct instruction still has its place in the classroom, but with the introduction of so many digital tools and resources, the days of having the teacher be the gatekeeper of knowledge are over! It is time to start embracing the digital culture, and educators should begin by letting students explore, create, build, etc. Students can and should discover things on their own. And most importantly, students should be immersed and motivated to complete the projects set before them!
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Flipping The Classroom
It's true! Direct instruction still exists, but not in the way you think... Why directly instruct a child in class and hope they retain the information and then send them home with homework that you hope they will do correctly? Practice doesn't make perfect... Practice makes permanent. If a student does it wrong at home 50 times, then they will forever know how to solve a problem the wrong way. Why not use screen-casting to flip that idea around? Why not send a student home with the lecture and have an expert/teacher help them work IN THE CLASSROOM? It's an idea that is still early in its life, but I believe that it is the way things will be going in the very near future for every classroom!
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