Tech or no Tech: the impact on teacher development

This presentation was given by Emma Louise Potter. First of all she talked about the way technology is now such a major part of our lives, but very often not so much a part of the way that we teach. She reminded us about our students. The so-called Generation Z, they have the following qualities.

The system is so engrained that parents expect the same as they had and will often resist change even if a teacher is brave enough to try something new. But students need soft skills now, they are shown in the wordle below.

Today students need to know their personal and social responsibilities, critical thinking skills, strong communication and presentation skills and cross-cultural understanding. Students are now very visual and we need to give them visualisation and decision making skills. They need to know what the best tool for the job is.

The role of teachers has changed, there is a difference between using technology in the classroom and integrating technology. The use of technology is now planned with clear objectives in mind. It is no longer a fill in activity or just used for the entertainment value, it is a routine part of lessons and it is no longer just used by the teacher but by all the members of the class and it is used to engage and motivate the students. By integrating the technology it develops students soft skills and the teachers are used to develop the students knowledge. Another great step forward is that learning becomes social. Students learn better together. Teachers need different management skills now.

Emma then went on to talk about the ATC21S project which was a collaboration between the University of Melbourne, Micro$oft, Cisco and Intel. The prime objective was to transform educational assessment by changing the way we think, the  way we work, the tools we use and the world in which we live. The slide below highlights the new ways we need to think and assess students.

As teachers we need to take risks, to move out of our comfort zones. We need to be critical thinkers, we need to model the skills we want our students need to develop. We as teachers need to continually learn and be autonomous, motivated and engaged.

Teachers need to learn to collaborate and communicate better within schools and forums. We need to know more about the tools that we have available and be able to decide which is the best tool for the job. Finally we need to show our students that we are living in the real world, we are digital citizens.

Project based learning is the idea that she is trying to spread, I personally used PBL in Summer Schools, students have to complete a project working in teams and the learning plan work backwards. We start at the end and build it up to the beginning including all the things the students will need to learn in order to be able to complete the project. It also covers all the skills needed in the 21st century.

Then she asked us to reflect upon our ways of thinking and working.

I am lucky in that now I am moving into a new sphere of teaching - online teaching - so everythinmg is new to me. I have taken online courses but not live lessons as a participant so I can learn from others and from my students. I do communicate with other teachers from around the world on courses like this, webinars and other fora. I think the day I stop learning will be the day you have to bury me!

Rob from ESL Online pointed out that some teachers are also resistant to change and had witnessed and been parts of arguments with teachers who don't like change. They think that projects can only be used to present work at the end of a course unit and not to learn from. Louise pointed out that students can ask interesting questions and then you can work back from these 'leading' questions. Teachers need to model and helping the students to learn. Not teach them anymore as we say to create the optimum environment for learning.

Then followed a discussion about the merits of modern teaching methods using technology and project based learning. Louise pointed out that very often when students are doing project based learning they are more engaged and less likely to have disciplinary problems.

This was an interesting talk on the differences between older outdated teaching styles and the more modern student centred styles which are definitely better for learning if they are carried out properly by both teachers and learners. Thank you Louise for this session.