Leading Classroom Learning

We can predict that the future will be even more technologically advanced than it is now, there will be a higher population and in turn more job competition. Students will have to be multi-taskers  who are able to skim and scan through many sources of information.Education will tap into this use of technology, a variety of lesson will be conducted online and every pupil will be equipped with computers. There will be a wide range of resources available to teachers.  Education will still take place in schools although there will be opportunities for online collaboration with other schools around the world, some schools may be commercialized.

Teachers will still have the same role in the education of the future although it is important that as teachers we adopt the use of technology and adapt our teaching methods for the quick thinking, multi-taskers of the future.

Although a dated quote, Taylor and Francis (1997) write about ways to adopt and adapt by

‘emphasizing the importance of technical services which work to all aspects of library services, discussing the need to adopt and adapt to changing technologies, recognizing the diversity of settings in which students will be employed, and acknowledging that, for the majority of graduates, the processes involved with technical services will be only one part of their overall job responsibilities.’

More recently, Prensky (2011) outlines ‘easy to do/big impact steps’ including:
 
o  Less “telling” by teachers (and allowing kids to research the answers to
guiding questions on their own);
o  Always connecting what is taught with real-world outcomes;
o  Helping students distinguish the unchanging “verbs” (skills)  of  education
from the rapidly changing “nouns” (tools);
o  Treating students as learning partners;
o  Employing  students‟  own  tools  (particularly  video  and  cellphones)  for
learning;
o  Using more peer-to-peer teaching;
o  Offering students far more choices, rather than mandating what all must read
or do;
o  Allowing  students  to  be  the  primary  users  (and  maintainers)  of  classroom
technology;
o  Sharing  of  successes  via  short  videos  posted  on  sites  such  as  YouTube  or
TeacherTube; and
o  Regularly  connecting  students  with  the  world  via  free,  secure  tools  such  as
Skype and ePals.

Presky, M (2011) The Reformers are Leaving our Schools in the 20th Century. Accessed 13 August 2012. Available at: http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/+Prensky-The_Reformers_Are_Leaving_Our_Schools_in_the_20th_Century-please_distribute_freely.pdf