Website Mission
It is the mission of this website to assist in the development of learning environments that promote Career and Technical Education as well as academic excellence. To provide examples of effective 21st century teaching and learning strategies in order to assist in the development of more engaged and motivated classrooms. To provide multimedia Podcasts and articles to facilitate an understanding of how to implement technology and multimedia in classrooms regardless of content area. To encourage independent and personalized learning by teaching students to enjoy the process of learning. To assist teachers in becoming facilitators of learning.
The End of Teaching As We Know It
In my experience in education (i.e., urban and rural high school teacher, adjunct professor, industry trainer, professional development provider), I have learned one thing about education. And that is, it MUST change.
Most higher education programs teach a hybrid of students, some who know and use technology and some who do not, and are taught by professors who aren’t quite sure how to truly take advantage of the tools. The students who are fluent in technology are bored and the students who aren’t are lost. These students are then thrown into schools that have varying degrees of technology integration. They are often faced with the constraints of meeting the standards, having students pass standardized tests, and trying to be relative without funding to support their efforts. However, the time has come for a dramatic change and we should embrace what is happening now.
The role of the educator has changed. The idea that students need to go to school to learn from professionals is no longer the case. The impersonal, lecture-based, teacher-centered model doesn’t work. Students want more. They want relevancy in their education, they want be guided to mastery and mentored. They want to create, remix, and share. They want instantaneous information and they want it to be accessible when they need it. The list goes on and on.
For that reason we need to meet those demands. A summary of what is needed was creatively defined in a slideshare presentation by Alvaro González-Alorda titled “The End of Teaching As We Know It.” In this presentation, he provides information from some of today’s major schools and companies.
