Teachers of the 21st century must be prepared to maximize learning for all children
The information age poses a new set of challenges and questions for American schools. The quality of our nation’s political, social, and economic future will depend on the ability of young people to become functional members of society who understand how to access information and determine its importance, draw independent rational conclusions, and communicate findings. A democracy requires contributing citizens who are informed and capable of critical and independent thinking. Continuous recycling is becoming the norm in American businesses, but are future employees ready to contribute? The preparation of our youth society for the industrial-age workplace has been insufficient.
While the nature and strength of our national economy is not the only driving force behind school reform, it is a powerful one. Global competition, new technologies, scientific discoveries, change in production techniques and reengineering of work are driving economic and social change.
If the education reform movement of the last decades has shown anything, it is that public education is not meeting its obligations to our youth. American children are not learning enough in core academic subjects. Furthermore, our schools have not adapted to the culture of the information age, a culture that values knowledge and technology as its key products. Education reformers are proposing a number of new approaches to learning. The concepts of education and schooling are expanding as we explore the value of ideas such as charter schools, magnet schools, distance learning, voucher programs, and new systems of government. As for the individual classroom, reformers recommend higher academic standards, higher expectations of teachers, back-to-basics curricula, technology, etc. Incorporating technology into the learning process has been encouraged for decades, but exactly how to do it remains unclear. The corporate world couldn’t function without cutting edge technologies, so why are schools taking so long to adopt them?
For the children of the 1970s and 1980s, “technology” could have involved a wide variety of ideas, from the specter of the nuclear holocaust to the fantasies of a 21st century adorned with flying cars and domestic robots. With the “click of a mouse” (a foreign phrase for the average citizen of the Reagan years), they are connected to the entire world. However, many are unable to access and use this asset.
The use of technology is not an educational panacea. It is new instructional strategies and high performance standards that lead to improvements in performance; technology is just a tool. But it is an important facilitator of education in the 21st century.
There are teachers and school administrators who fail to connect the importance of technology with the lives of young people. These educators offer a variety of reasons for not accepting the integration of technology into the curriculum: lack of funding; lack of time; lack of confidence in the role of technology in the learning process; and lack of opportunities for professional training in the use of technology.
The belief that educational technology is important to the learning process is gaining support from leaders in government, business, and education. They understand that American education can no longer afford to operate with a system designed in and for the industrial age. Information is everywhere. Yet our schools are big bureaucracies, institutions that embrace change slowly. Therefore, there are significant barriers that must be addressed.
As a nation, we must commit to providing quality education to our citizens. Every child needs to be positively encouraged and realize that with perseverance and hard work, goals can be achieved. Using technology to entrench existing teaching practices, effectively automating the status quo, would be a huge mistake. The focus should be on how technology can be creatively applied to enhance teaching and learning.
In addition, it is imperative to address the fears and concerns of teachers. Teachers must have the opportunity to see new methods in action, realize their importance, and be convinced of the tremendous benefit to children. Teachers need access to hardware and training. They need time to become familiar with how technology can enhance learning and how administrative tasks can be performed more efficiently. It is of great importance to satisfy the teacher’s need to interact with others who are struggling with the same experiences.
The integration of technology into the curriculum must be intertwined with learning techniques that can improve student achievement. These strategies include: (1) learning in a context that interests and challenges the student, (2) learning by participating in the process, (3) learning through reproduction, (4) learning by receiving immediate feedback on performance, and ( 5) learn by practicing different parts of the task separately and then incorporating them into the task as a whole.
A knowledge society requires citizens who are lifelong learners, people who explore and share ideas and benefit from the thoughts of others. Technology is a simple but comprehensive means towards that end. Teachers of the 21st century must be prepared to maximize learning for all children; willing to share your knowledge and experiences; willing to share your heart; and dedicated to helping all children find success in their world. New technologies can help them achieve this. We cannot delay any longer.