New generations of educators are roaming the halls
of a school near you. From a distance they seem like the typical teacher
preparing for a new school year: hanging up posters, rearranging desks,
sharpening pencils, and copying papers. But upon further observation, an
onlooker might notice these young teachers are armed with something new.
Something that will transform how subjects are taught and how students will
learn. What is it you ask? Technology.
Technology has totally redefined the world we live,
making things easier, brighter, and more connected. And the classroom may be
one of the most exciting arenas for the evolution of technology. Before I
continue I should describe what a 21st century teacher is. In my
opinion, a 21st century teacher is a young educator who realizes
that it’s time for education to change. Now, I’m not saying that the rule book
needs to be thrown out and we need to redo every tiny thing our teachers did,
but I do believe it requires us to take a long, hard look at educational tactics
and ask ourselves “Is this effective?” and “How can I improve on this?” As 21st century teachers we get to
personally partake in this new advent in education and learn to discover how we
can use technology to facilitate our teaching. We find ourselves in schools now equipped with
Smartboards, Airliners, the internet, projectors, labs, etc. and we realize
that we literally have the whole world of education at our hands instead of as
much as a publisher can fit in a book. As a future history teacher, I will be
able to take my history students to Bangladesh through vivid pictures, study
culture by means of music by Amazonian tribes, and learn politics at the hands
of video debates. We can now travel the world, with the world of knowledge at
our feet, and never have to leave our classroom.
However, as 21st Century teachers we also
have two big responsibilities. First, we must promise to become proficient in
using our new found technological devices. I think we can all agree there are
few things more disheartening then watching an educator struggle with
technology for twenty minutes before giving up and resorting to handwritten
notes. We owe it to our students and ourselves that we know how to use our
technology and keep up on the current developments and new applications they
can perform. And secondly, we must respect technology and know its boundaries.
There is no debating that fact technology is entertaining but we must make sure
we use technology for our educational purposes and not to be pulled into a vacuum
of silly online time wasters. We are educators and our utmost responsibility is
to educate.
So there you have it. Goodbye chalkboards!
Arrivederci overhead projectors! The 21st Century teachers have
arrived and we’re gearing to go with our Smartboards and our weblogs. We’re
here to teach and we’re not going about it the traditional way. The world is
just within our grasp. And you know what? We’re reaching out for it.
