Educating students in the 21st Century is no simple task! To be successful educators need to have an abundance of strategies in their tool bag and know how to integrate technology into their curriculum. As someone new to the profession, I can say this is a challenging task, but when it is accomplished enthusiasm for learning and teaching are greatly enhanced.
As pointed out by Howard Gardner in 1983 there are multiple ways people process information and thus the way teachers teach should provide variety as well. Today, researchers suggest that people learn in a variety of formats that include: verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, musical/rhythmic, bodily/kinesthetic, naturalist, intrapersonal, interpersonal, or existential. Thus, to meet the needs of all students teachers need to use a variety of strategies.
How as this impacted how I teach? When I created curriculum for my school district I always thought about how teachers could reach these 8 types of learners. For visual and spatial learners we created a model of the brain and the parts of it. For bodily learners, we added a yoga session to our unit on stress. Verbal/linguistic learners benefit from debates, logical learners enjoy experiments on classical conditioning, interpersonal learners like keeping a journal throughout the year, existential learners take off when we ponder the importance of dreams and the unconscious, and so on.
What I realized when I looked at how I was teaching is that I did not include spatial, musical, or existential learning opportunities because that is not how I prefer to learn. Now that I know more about how others learn I work really hard to draw those students into my curriculum. All teachers need to be reflective to really meet the needs of their students.
Furthermore, when I worked on creating curriculum I also had to consider the need to incorporate technology into our program. In a 2007 poll, conducted on behalf of the Partnership for 21st century skills an overwhelming 80% of voters say that the kinds of skills student need to learn today are different from what they needed 20 years ago and 99% of voters say that teacher students 21st century skills is important to our country's economic success (Regan p.1). According to the Parternship for 21st Century Skills we need to be teaching:
*information, media, literacy and communication skills
*thinking and problem solving
*interpersonal, collaborative, and self-direction skills
*global awareness
*Economic and business literacy
*Civic literacy.
Consequently, in order to prepare teachers for the future teachers need to find ways to use technology daily to enhance the curriculum and likewise meet multiple intelligences.
Some theorist would conclude that we can group learning strategies into four main areas and then incorporate technology into these approaches to meet the needs of our students. One can group strategies into four perspectives including behaviorist, cognitivist, contructivist, and social-psychological (Smaldino p.10-11).
Behaviorists focus on teaching students through repetition with positive reinforcement built in. An examples a teaching strategy that fits this perspective and uses technology could be using a software program like USA Test Prep. This program assess the students level and then provides lesson and assessments at the appropriate level. The American History students play games and earn points for mastering the content. This keeps them very motivated and engaged. They do not take naps in class anymore!
Cognitivist approach promotes learning by emphasizing teaching how to think or problem solve. An examples a teaching strategy that fits this perspective and uses technology is Document Based Analysis using electronic sources provided by the Smithsonian online. My global studies students loved examining the history of child labor using these sources. No one watched the clock that day!
Constructivist see learning as an opportunity to allows students to learn through discovery. An examples a teaching strategy that fits this perspective and uses technology could be a virtual field trip. My students to a trip the Palace of Versailles to understand the social inequalities that led to the French Revolution. All my students wanted to know what other historical sites they could travel to when they got home from school.
Lastly, supporters of the social-psychological perspective suggests that structuring the classroom to allow for interaction is the best way to learn. Example of instructional strategies include but are not limited to cooperative learning exercises, class project, or class debate. An example of how I used technology was when my students Skyped with a State Representative to get more information on our debate topic, which was Animal Abuse. All of my students bragged to other school members that they got to talk to our State Representative that day and were experts on public policy.
My overall impression is that if I want to be successful in educating my students I need to teach them in a variety of ways and incorporate technology. They are digital natives and so I need to learn to speak their language (Prensky p. 2)! Of course there are barriers and challenges along the way, but I look forward to this challenge and hope this course will help me move mountains!
References:
Regan, Bob. (2008). Why We need to Teach 21st Century Skills-And How to Do it. MultiMedia and Internet@schools.
Prensky, Marc. (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. MCB University Press.
