The roles of the educator

Reflection on Activity: 1

I can say that the views expressed by my colleagues on the role of the teacher in the ICT classroom were quite informative.  Based on the discussion the role of the teacher includes mediator, designer, admission, scholar, pastor, assessor and specialist. Three roles that were of interest to me are the teacher’s role as a designer, a mediator and an assessor.

As the mediator the teacher facilitates learning and creates opportunities for dialogue between the teacher, students and parents. The claims are powerful and unequivocal, when schools work together with families to support learning, children tend to succeed. Therefore the cultivation of strong “family school linkages” is increasingly and widely viewed as an essential component of strategies to improve students’ educational outcomes. The use of blogs and emails can assist to foster this strong school tie. I find this method quite innovative and its a quick way to convey messages to parents about students progress in schools. This method will certainly be used by me as I endeavour to involve parents in the learning experience. 

The teacher operating as a designer certainly tickled my interest. As a designer the teacher devises programmes which cater for the needs of the students. Therefore the teachers in the ICT classroom should be creative in the use of technology based on the curriculum and their students’ needs and design educational materials in their own fields. In this view, the teacher rather than taking on the role of knowledge dispenser or just adopting existing technologies, design their own teaching environment with a variety of technological tools to facilitate knowledge construction. Analysing this role has motivated me to create an environment where technology can be used to teach diverse learning styles, thus ensuring that the needs of students are catered to. 

In the end it’s imperative that students’ learning is assessed on a continuous basis. This will give me a clearer understanding of how learning takes place; this will help me to better collect, analyse and make decisions that are in the best interest of my students.

Reflection: Assignment 2

One would have thought that having been a teacher for so many years would have put me in good stead to evaluate an ICT integrated lesson. How wrong I was. Although, I only had occasion to call upon my online coordinator once, I was pushed to the limit. The difficulty experienced was in the use of the language evaluative as opposed to analytical. This is an important part of our training and it would do us well to master this aspect for undoubtedly we would be called upon to evaluate many more in the near future.

Reflective Teaching, Is It Necessary?

It is clear that not only does effective teaching include the successful use of certain instructional strategies and behaviours related to academic achievement, it also involves the ability to determine just  when, where and with whom these strategy and behaviours should be used  Gilbert et. al (2009). Clearly such a teacher must be engaging in reflective teaching. The who does not engage in reflective teaching is teaching in the dark, not knowing how effective he or she is or if there is a need to modify their teaching.

As I reflect on my own teaching practice, I seek answers to a number of questions some of which include:
           Are my objectives achievable?
           Are my students actively involved?
           What kind of classroom climate do I create?
           How well do I respond to questions?
           How do I interact with students?
           Am  making effective use of technology?
Such  practice gives me deeper insights of the strengths and weaknesses of my students and of myself and helps to inform my classroom practices. It is a rewarding exercise that every teacher should become involved in with or without ICT in the classroom.

The Role of the 21st Century Teacher

Education change, whether cause by economic, social, or any other means, always places the teacher in a new role. In this the 21st century, where the pursuit of learning is valued both by the individual and authorities, much would be expected, and much would be demanded of teachers.

In this technology driven era, teachers have an awesome responsibility to prepare our young people not only to face the future with confidence but to build it with purpose and responsibility. This requires a paradigm shift in teaching practices. The old model of pedagogy teacher-focused, one way, one size fits all, which places the teacher in the role of a dispenser of knowledge cannot adequately address the needs of the learner in a digital world. The new role places less emphasis on the teacher and more on the student, so the teacher is no longer the ‘sage on the stage” but a “guide on the side.” In this new facilitative role, the teacher acts as a guide, resource and a coach. Such a teacher would have to be able to set clear expectations for learners, create a climate of collaboration reflective of the real world, provide “just in time” support that is customized and individualized, motivate, direct, model, clarify and so on and so forth. 

This would be challenging to say the least because by nature most of us resist change for one reason or the other. Principals, therefore, have a very important role to play in helping to bring about the desired change in teachers attitude and teaching practices as we seek to integrate technology in the curriculum. Teachers must be encouraged and supported in their professional development as they seek to adopt and adapt teaching practices in the classroom using available technology. Much will be expected, and much will be demanded of teachers in the 21^st century