Role of School in the Digital Era at Educator®

Role of School in the Digital Era

2 Comments Published May 18th, 2010 in Educational News

Some people are weary of the role of technology in our schools, especially at the elementary level. Some fear technology will replace the teacher. Not so, say current educational administrators and principals. Technology will be reshaping the role of the teacher, not replacing the teacher.

In a day when technological advances seem to move at lightning speed, today’s modern teacher must be comfortable with teaching material that is initially foreign to them. The goal is to close the gap between what is taught in elementary and secondary schools and what colleges and employers expect students to have mastered. To do that, schools all over the country must have the funds to deliver the technological infrastructure to meet these goals.

Teachers will still need to be creative thinkers as they will still need to foster innovative thinking in their presentation of technology topics to students. To meet these goals, the status quo will must be challenged. Schools will have to design educational programs that result in graduates who can pass standardized tests and also engage in critical thinking. Schools must learn to reward teachers who are bold enough to try new things that might be considered “shaking things up” in their quest to meet these new educational goals.

Meeting the dual goals of technological mastery and innovative thinking is going to require a certain amount of risk-taking, probably more than most teachers and administrators have ever embraced.

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2 Responses to “Role of School in the Digital Era”

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1 JD May 19th, 2010 at 12:34 pm

While i agree with the overall sentiments expressed above, the article seems to be missing the bulk of “how to” or examples that give it impact.

I think that the key is going to be developing an understanding that the role of schools/educators in the digital era is still similar to the role of schools/educators in past eras: solid student based objectives that lead to a level of knowledge acquisition, reflection, and analysis that moves beyond rote memorization. Great teachers do this whether it is at a blackboard or a whiteboard or a screen (while the time-lapse lesson with chaptering is useful, this is not exceptionally new or innovative…kids learn by demonstration).

Further, the emphasis in the second to last paragraph is to reward teachers who shake things up in the quest to MEET NEW EDUCATIONAL GOALS. too much emphasis placed on the shaking instead of the goals leads to tool-based teaching that often checks off completion without any learning.