Teaching here and now, for the future...

Do teachers always realise their critical role, responsibility and valuable contributions to the development and acquisition of children's and young people's skills and knowledge to live and survive in the world outside the classroom? Are they often reminded of this?

Although teachers are teaching their learners here and now, they are also preparing learners for the future. This statement has serious implications... How can those teachers who are not willing to accommodate the "here and now" in their classrooms, ever accommodate the "future"? What are they preparing their learners for?

Looking at my own children (8 yrs and 5 yrs old) and how they interact with the world, made me realise how vulnerable children really are. Am I right in saying that, when one looks at the number of hours in a day, learners spend a substantial amount of their awake-time traveling to school, at school and traveling home again? School is therefore a big part of children's being. BUT, school is not the only part of it! When they step out of the classroom, they have friends, families, homes, communities, and...and...and - all of these contribute to the children's world.

The ideal would be for each smaller component of one's world to actively (and positively) contribute to and support another one. Skills, knowledge and experienced gained in one environment can then be transferred more easily to the other. Since school is such a big component of a learner's world, the impact of it on other components in the learner's world, is likely to be substantial - whether it is positive or negative.

The bigger the gap between the learner's "school world" and the other "worlds" in his/her life, the slimmer the chance of the learner benefiting from the transfer of skills, knowledge, etc. The could even result in separate worlds developing where knowledge and skills gained in one, cannot be transferred to the other.

Why should learners' worlds change completely when they leave school in the afternoon? Sitting behind a desk, writing or drawing in a book, reading from a book, do contribute to their development (i.e. it teaches them self discipline, develop different areas of their brains, teaches them essential skills, etc. etc.). I don't say one should take that away at all. My plea is for teachers to merely bring tools that are (or were?) traditionally considered to belong "outside the classroom", into the classroom to serve a specific educational purpose (i.e. to enhance teaching and learning). At the same time, by bringing the learners' worlds outside their "school world" closer to the classroom, they create a golden opportunity for the transfer of skills, knowledge, experience and insight gained in the classroom, to their worlds outside the classroom... preparing them for the future.

I think that teachers (and school principals) who are reluctant to use ICTs in their classrooms (and schools), should step back and ask themselves:
How big is the gap between my learners' "school world" and the "real world"?
AND
What is my contribution as a teacher/principal - am I making this gap bigger or am I filling/bridging it?

Getting teachers to open their minds

In my search for answers to my previously posted questions on approaching and convincing reluctant teachers to integrate ICTs into their classroom activities, I discovered a few gems!

Maybe one can start with a quick "reality check". Prompt teachers with the question "WHY should I even consider ICTs?"

Here are two video clips that can be used to motivate such a question:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AWYIit1uNk (this is a 4 min clip with the title: I teach, therefore you learn... or do you?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnh9q_cQcUE (a 2 and a half minute clip with the title: Education Today and Tomorrow)

The next question could be: "WHAT are available and what are the possibilities of these available ICTs in my specific subject area?" When addressing this question, one should not only show examples of how other teachers are implementing ICTs, but also identify ICTs that are available.

Once the second question has been answered, one can move to: "HOW do I go about implementing the identified ICTs?" This question then addresses the specific skills and knowledge required by the teacher, as well as where the teacher can find particular/relevant resources to implement his/her ideas - in other words, follow a "just-in-time approach", compared to a "just-in-case approach".

Starting on the right foot?

In previous posts I commented on some teachers' reluctance to buy-in on the idea of integrating ICTs into their teaching and learning. They may have many reasons for their decisions and yes, the teachers that will come from the "new generation" are more likely to embed ICTs into their teaching and learning...

BUT:
What can we do about the current situation? Are there not creative ways to at least approach and convince those teachers who have the necessary infrastructure at their schools, to be more open to suggestions and ideas on the benefits (for them and for there learners) of integrating ICTs? Another question: How can we approach them in a positive manner and not let them feel that they are being critised? We know that most people go into "self-defense mode" when they find themselves in situations in which they are forced to do something that they don't like or are not comfortable with.

I think that with the right approach, many teachers' perceptions on the use of ICTs in their classrooms will change for the better if they are approached from a different angle - first sell the idea to them and then address technical skills, based on their specific needs.

I came across a video clip on youtube - I downloaded it an edited it a little, but there seems to be a problem with uploading it into my blog (I have just reported it to Blogger support and hope they will solved it quickly). In the meantime, here is a link to the original clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2j9qw-A0NM

How can we change thinking and perceptions?

A lot of research has been done everywhere in the world on the use of ICTs in the classroom - whether or not teachers are using it, how they are using it, whether or not it is making in difference on learner's performance, etc. etc.

Looking at the South African environment specifically, my concern is that we are spending a lot of time (and money) to find out more about the use of ICTs in education and how ICTs can enhance teaching and learning BUT while all this research is being conducted, too many learners are still exposed to "traditional classroom teaching" in environments where the infrastructure is there, yet the teachers are not willing (or able) to use it.

Dealing with perceptions: In Higher Education, for example, there is a perception that "online learning" is synonymous to "distance learning". I agree that it is a suitable medium for distance learning. However, residential students and lecturers can benefit as much from online learning as distance education students. To illustrate the value of online learning for distance learning students, click this URL and watch a 2-min video clip currently available on Youtube: . How can we take these insights and "carry them over" into ANY teaching and learning environment?

What do the students say? Maybe we should show this very short clip to more lecturers and teachers? What do you think? (It was created by a couple of students in the USA):

Two assignments later

Since the previous post, we had to submit our websites as well as a video. I really think the concept of my website has some potential :) Perhaps something that I can consider for future studies...

While looking for video material to use in my video, I was really amazed by what is currently available on the Internet for teachers! Do teachers in general know about the rich resource pool that they can tab into? By this I don't only refer to You tube. What about Microsoft Partners in Learning, Merlot and Mindset? Can anyone add to my list of "resource pools" - specifically suitable for teachers and learners in South Africa?

My experiences around the first milestone assignment

Welcome to my blog. You are welcome to share your thoughts and ideas :)

I have been playing around with weebly quite extensively. It is actually a very useful tool - especially for someone who does not know other publishing programmes yet they want to create and maintain a website. Even better - it's free (if you stay within their specs) :)

1. My biggest frustration with the first assignment was to get my head around the content of my website. As everything that I have on my website is in the public domain, I have to be very thoughtful of issues such as Intelectual Propery and accuracy.
2. The second difficult (or rather, time consuming) thing was to think about the purpose of a website for me as a teacher.
   
   How did you experience it?