Candidate
Name: B.ALVIN PRAVEEN JOTHI
Candidate
Code: 182 16 397 003
Course:
B.Ed Physical Science
Semester: One
Semester: One
TEACHER IN A DIGITAL ERA - CHANGING ROLE AND COMPETENCIES
With the rapid
technological developments during the last few years, new methods and areas of
utilization have emerged in the field of higher education. As a result of this,
new knowledge and experience can be disseminated and can contribute to an
overall increase in quality and general level of knowledge. The authors of this
article have substantial experience as lecturers and academic tutoring in
various professions from the foundation level up to post-qualifying education.
In the article, the focus is based upon the role of the teacher under the new
regime of information- and communications technology in education.
The use of this
technology in academic education puts high demands on the technology due to the
complex nature of the communication, and the authors maintain that the content
and goals of the teaching and tutoring must decide the choice of technology. It
must also be considered whether different technological methods should be used
exclusively or combined with one another or with teaching or tutoring in the
same room. The methods demand both pedagogical and didactical knowledge in
order to ensure quality in the various areas where the technology is applied,
and furthermore, a basic understanding of technical possibilities and
limitations of the technology. This is essential in order to ensure that the
whole spectrum of perception (senses) is activated when this is important in a
dialogue. The paper presentation will be based upon reports from different
projects, experience, field trips, discussions and reviews of literature
concerning the use of video-conferencing, computer- and video-based learning.
It is not possible to offer a complete picture of all the various media and
methods in this portrayal, but we aim to provide some input about what we see
as being important elements in this debate.
The educational system
is constantly being challenged to offer better education to more people, at the
same time as technological development continually opens up new possibilities
and methods of learning. Education and tutoring can be described as complicated
relationships in which many factors affect the whole. Some of these factors are
the students’ learning preconditions and which framework factors apply at any
given time. By framework factors we mean: "given factors enhancing or
preventing learning", and in this context associated with ICT. The
framework factors will be different in relation to various methods. The students’
preconditions for learning concern their working habits, attitudes, motivation
and knowledge which are all central factors in teaching and learning. It is
important that the teacher is conscious of this, and intervenes in the
processes when it is desirable or natural to do so. Methods in the field of ICT
often require different things of the teacher at the same time demanding more
student activity.
As a professional
practitioner, the teacher is likely to become a role model or standard for his
or her students. The teacher should also be a subject developer. By this one
means that the teacher should, through continual work, bring new knowledge to
the subject through his/her own experience, and research and development work.
The teacher’s role as a subject disseminator is also emphasized by focusing on
the "good teacher", who in an inspiring and lively manner, awakens
the desire, and therefore also the motivation for learning. Some teachers feel
threatened by new technology and experience - that this may make the teacher
superfluous. The way we see it, however, technology will never be able to make
the teacher redundant, but it may make the teacher’s role different.
The teacher’s daily
plan is often full of countless challenges and the time constraints are very tight.
However, it is expected that creativity should be given space at work in an
active search for new knowledge and new methods. In this connection it is
important that the teacher feels competent to move forward with the new tasks
in hand. Motivation and competence are closely connected. Increased competence
leads to increased motivation to develop what one is doing, and this in turn
leads to one wanting to try something new. In this the interplay between
teachers, teacher and student and between students becomes very important.
Positive interplay and commitment increases the motivation and the learning
effect.
In distance education,
as in all types of teaching, teaching material is presented and a structure for
dialogue between teacher and student is established. Here the teacher and
students meet as part of the learning process. The students are fellow members
and must to a larger degree than in traditional teaching, be made responsible
for their own learning and faith in their own ability to master the learning
situation. The teacher has a responsibility to help promote learning
preconditions such as working habits, attitudes, knowledge and motivation.
The ICT Competencies
are a set of technology standards that define proficiency in using computer
technology in the classroom. The competencies consist of computer-related
skills grouped into four general domains: (1) Basic Technology Operation, (2)
Personal and Professional Use of Technology Tools, (3) Social, Ethical, and
Human Issues, and (4) Application of Technology in Instruction.
IMPORTANCE OF ICT COMPETENCY FOR TEACHERS
Teaching is a complex
activity. Competent teachers apply broad, deep, and integrated sets of knowledge
and skills as they plan for, implement, and revise instruction. Technology
proficiency (including technical skills and instructional applications) is but
one dimension of teacher competence.
The acquisition of
technology knowledge and skills must be connected with the development of a
broader array of competencies. Early attempts to develop technology standards
for teachers were isolated from the broader teacher competencies and were
focused primarily on technology skills. Consequently these competencies were
largely ignored by teacher-training institutions. Typically, colleges of
education simply required a single media course to satisfy accreditation
requirements; often, colleges were reluctant to insert yet another course into
an already overloaded curriculum.
The International
Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has actively addressed the
technology isolation problem and has recently released a set of revised teacher
technology standards. Developed through a rigorous process of expert and
lay-person input, the NETS-T Project (National Educational Technology Standards
for Teachers) explicitly describes what competent teachers should know and
should be able to do with technology in the context of broader teacher
competencies. The NETS-T standards are categorized as follows:
1.
technology operations
and concepts,
2.
planning and designing
learning environments and experiences,
3.
teaching, learning,
and the curriculum,
4.
assessment and
evaluation,
5.
productivity and
professional practice,
6.
social, ethical,
legal, and human issues.
BASIC TECHNOLOGY
COMPETENCIES
Fundamental skills
come first - like managing electronic files, using computerized databases and
spreadsheets, sending and receiving e-mail messages, and creating documents
with graphics. These skills are prerequisites for more advanced skills, such as
accessing online resources, creating desktop publishing documents, developing
multimedia presentations, selecting and customizing instructional software to
fit students' needs, streamlining record-keeping and other administrative
procedures with electronic tools, and observing the correct protocols in
sharing intellectual property. The competencies are organized into five
aspects: productivity, communication, research, media and presentation.
1.
Productivity
· Produce
and manage learning documents. This includes composing standard
educational publications such as parent newsletters and handouts for students
and class lists; teaching students how to prepare their own documents on a
computer.
· Analyze
quantitative data. This includes administrative work such as
putting student test scores into a spreadsheet and analyzing them, as well as
preparing curriculum materials with digital tables and graphs of curriculum
content.
· Organize
information graphically. He or she can use specialized graphic
organizer programs, as well as general tools such as word processors or
presentation programs, to create digital representations of educational
information.
2.
Research
· Use
effective online search strategies. In their professional
preparation, as well as in their classroom assignments, the teacher chooses the
most appropriate research tools and databases, and applies the most effective
search techniques, to produce useful and safe online resources in the classroom.
· Evaluate
and compare online information and sources. Once located, the
teacher knows the difference between authoritative and untrustworthy sources,
how to ascertain authorship, and how to find sources with different points of
view. And can teach these skills to students.
· Save
and cite online information and sources. The teacher knows a variety of
methods for bookmarking and saving valuable online resources so that may easily
be found later and employed in learning materials..
3.
Communication
· Communicate
using digital tools. These include email, instant messaging,
mobile colleagues, and knowing how to organize and manage these tools in the
classroom.
· Collaborate
online for learning. Takes advantage of the tools listed above
plus blogs, wikis, chats, audio and videoconferencing to bring outside
resources into the classroom and to encourage academic collaboration among
students.
· Publish
learning resources online. From a simple teacher's web site to a
complex curriculum wiki to the online posting of student projects, to
podcasting, the teacher has mastered an array of tools and techniques for
publishing learning materials online.
4.
Media
· Differentiate
instruction with digital media. This includes an awareness of
assistive technologies for disabled students as well as the ability to use a
computer to prepare and present academic ideas in a variety of forms for better
learning by all students.
· Capture
and edit images, audio, and video. The teacher can use digital
still and video cameras, edit their output on a computer, and produce learning
materials that range from simple slide shows to the archiving of student
presentations and performances.
· Produce
digital multimedia educational experiences. The teacher can
combine media from a wide array of sources into a useful presentation of
academic content, and can teach this skill to students.
5.
Presentation
· Create
effective digital presentations. Using common tools for preparing
slide shows, videos, and podcasts, the teacher can create presentations that
follow the principles of communication, and can apply these design principles
to the evaluation of students' digital work.
· Deliver
digital multimedia presentations. Using common devices such as
computers, projectors, and screens, the teacher can set up classroom
presentations and arrange for students to do the same.
· Employ
new media devices for learning. From large Smart Boards to tiny
iPods to science probes, the teacher can incorporate a variety of digital
devices into the instruction in the classroom.
Those are the skills
that just about every teacher needs, no matter the subject or grade. Beyond
these are the more specific technical skills required of a high school math
teacher or a teacher of visually-impaired students, competencies that would be
embedded into specialized courses and programs.
STRATEGIES FOR PREPARING TEACHERS TO USE
TECHNOLOGIES
Given the importance
of well-trained teachers for technologies to be effective in enhancing
learning, what might education policy makers do to support and encourage
appropriate strategies for training teachers? No single approach to
professional development will meet the learning needs of all teachers seeking
to develop skills and knowledge in the integration and application of
technology.
Teachers’ progress
through a series of five predictable stages as their expertise in technology
adoption and integration evolves. It is likely that within a school, and
certainly within a district, teachers will exhibit varying levels of expertise
and therefore a variety of different professional-development opportunities
will be required.
In contrast, learning
that occurs outside the confines of programs provided by institutions is
considered informal learning. Informal learning, sometimes referred to as
self-directed learning, typically occurs in the learner’s “natural setting” and
is initiated and conducted independently (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999).
Policy makers may want to consider both kinds of approaches. A brief overview
of the kinds of possible training strategies is as follows:
Encouraging Teachers
to Acquire Necessary Skills: For many
teachers, having access to technologies is not viewed initially as a benefit.
Teachers may consider technologies yet another demand on their time, a set of
tools they did not ask for and do not know how to use. Some teachers feel they
are already doing a good job in the classroom and wonder how technologies will
contribute to improvements. Still other teachers, of course, welcome the
technologies and are eager to learn how to use them.
Policies that either
mandate or provide opportunities will cost money, but without the establishment
of policy that mandates or provides professional-development opportunities (or,
ideally, both), teachers are unlikely to acquire the skills they need to use
the technologies available to them, thus negating the potential benefits of the
investment that has been made in infrastructure.
Providing sustained
support for Teachers’ use of Technologies: It is very important for teachers
to acquire knowledge and skills in how to use technologies. But once teachers
begin to acquire such skills and begin to use technologies, there is a need to
provide means of continuing support to teacher use of technologies. That is,
initial training of teachers is not likely to guarantee that the technology
infrastructure will continue to be used.
Evaluating Teacher Use
of Technologies: The issue for education policy makers
here concerns the extent to which a teacher uses technologies effectively,
which can or should be an important criterion in evaluating a teacher’s
performance. This is a complicated issue for policy makers. This general issue
is complex in part because of divided opinion on how important technology use
is to the future well-being of individual citizens in a given entity, or to the
entity as a whole. There are many writers who make the argument that neither an
individual nor a state or nation can hope to survive or prosper unless they are
very familiar with technologies. Others dispute this claim and worry about the
survival of traditional cultural values in a technological age. Given this
deeply-rooted controversy, establishing policy according to which teacher
performance will be judged is of critical importance.
CONCLUSION
Teachers are central
to the effectiveness of technology infrastructures that serve education. How
teachers acquire the skills they need to use technologies and how the
technology is actually used and to what ends, are critical policy domains that
must be carefully explored. Hopefully, issues of this nature will be considered
as decisions are made about technology and as educators make decisions about
the future shape of their schools.
No comments:
Post a Comment