The new era of technology accompanies with it, the new era of education. Classroom cliches like chalkboards, papers and stacks of books are replaced with paperless, easy to manage virtual teaching utensils to provide a vivid conceptualization on various topics. The students, constituting this millennium generation, will be taught in a way quite different than ever before. It is thus imperative that teachers adapt to this new trend of technology in education and hence prepare themselves to teach on a platform that they have never seen before.
The stride towards a paperless classroom takes a toll on teachers the most. Being used to the concept of giving paper based homework, quizzes, chalkboard lectures, even the greatest teacher would feel lost, and hence need to find ways to cope with this transition.
A NEW TEACHING PLATFORM
If teachers are going to teach with iPads and other devices, they have to familiarize themselves with this technology first. The more abstract a topic, the harder it is to teach. Virtual demonstrations and examples give students a clear cut idea of what the lecture is about. So, obscure concepts can be understood easily. This will be their new platform for teaching.
GET CONNECTIONS WITH RESPECTABLE PEOPLE
Knowing a few respectable people will help students in this new form of education. Organize Skype talks so that the class can interact with them from within the classroom. The path to success is not a unique one. Have these people share their success stories. With so many options, students can find a desired role model.
THINK ABOUT PROJECTS TO ASSIGN
Projects like : “Make a diorama of solar power plant” aren’t going to cut it. Students cant hope to do this old type of project without their parents doing most of the work. What use is that?! Teachers have to think carefully about the projects they give, using new technology and making sure that is possible for students to finish it on their own.This method ensures that students learn how to operate independently, giving them a sense of accomplishment in the process.
WELCOME STUDENT CREATIVITY
The new era of education encourages creativity more than ever before. When a student comes up with an idea related to a topic, teachers should be proud to know that their method of teaching is working and should do what they can to support their views at a young age. In case their idea is a little off topic, teachers should do what they can to make them think on track.
PARENT TEACHER MEETINGS ARE ESSENTIAL
With so many changes in education, its a given that parents will have a ton of questions in their mind. Well, it is here that the old Parent Teacher Meetings hold great significance. This education cum technology scheme is still in the developing state.So, PTMs should be held regularly to keep parents up to date.
KNOW EVERY STUDENT
Along with the new education system, parents want to know how their child is holding up. With Cloud based education management systems, teachers can easily keep account of every child’s behavior in the classroom and provide relevant feedback for personality development.
MAKE THE CLASSROOM INTERACTIVE AND FUN
Most students have probably never heard a sentence with the word “classroom” followed by the word “fun”. Of course traditional classrooms are boring. That is why they never associate classroom with fun. But with introduction of technology, the classroom no longer connotes the idea of seemingly endless sleep and boredom.
It is a fact that, whatever we see has a lasting impact on us, than what we hear. Educational videos incorporate this fact, providing visual representation of seemingly boring topics. History and Geography lessons, for example, can be understood easily if watched like a movie. Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is a system for delivering learning materials to students via the web.
These systems include assessment, student tracking, collaboration and communication tools. VLEs, such as WebCT and Moodle, ensure that students continue to be engaged with the content after the lectures have ended.
One doesn’t have to be a certified “teacher” to teach, but must be willing to make the best out of their students
Everyone reading this post would have come to the same conclusion : Technology in education, ironically, makes a teacher’s work difficult. Its a given that teachers will have to put in extra effort, but the use of education management systems will make their job a lot easier. Teachers just have to open their minds and hearts to their students and welcome the millennium generation with open arms to make this new era of education and technology a success which can be further optimized for the future students to come.