Mistacres Blog

Our world is changing rapidly. In my day it was transportation that changed the way people looked at the world. Individuals no longer had to stay in the town of their birth, families started to travel and explore not only their state but their country and beyond. Remember, “See the USA in your Chevrolet”? And now, we all take it for granted because it is what we grew up with. We don’t know anything differently. And what of the introduction of television! But I wonder, did our parents and grandparents find it difficult to adjust to this new way of thinking and living?

Today’s children are growing up with new technologies that are changing the world as we know it again. By now, most everyone is accepting the term “digital natives” when describing our students of today. Technology surrounds them and they are as adept at using it as the Chinese use chop sticks.

Learning online and the technology used is a natural for our children. Our rapidly changing economy demands that our students have the skills and knowledge to compete when they graduate. Most business today are embedded with technology. Digital resources are expanding learning opportunities at a fantastic pace. Yet our classroom pedagogy has not changed much over the past 50 years. Schools struggle to meet the academic demands, are in financial distress, and yet they continue to put money into exiting approaches that no longer work. What are we doing? “Teaching Jetson kids with Flintstone technology”.

Up until now, schools have depended on textbooks to deliver instruction. These are expensive and, for the most part, out-of-date by the time the are published. Our world is ever changing more rapidly then any teacher can keep up with. More then once in my teaching career was the material I was using in class challenged by my students. They had gone to the internet for more current information.

California’s budget is in true crisis. How is the Governor ever going to get it back into check? One way is through the schools. He is calling for them to shift to digital textbooks and instructional materials, which he feels will save much of the $350 million California spends on textbooks and instructional materials!

I recall thinking that I had to be like Sesame Street to ever get my students to pay attention to me – balloons from the ceiling, interactive characters to sing and play with, fast, quick, fun, active. Yet I was using textbooks which are hardly interative and most definitely not fun. Usually droll, dry and written above most of the students.

As educators, we need to change our approach to meet the needs of the 21st century. The old school pedagogy just doesn’t fit today’s students and the gap will only widen unless something is done now. Give each child a computer when they enter school instead of a backpack filled with out-dated text. (It’s healthy for their backs as well.) Teach teachers to be facilators of learning through technology. Embrace online learning, blend with virtual schools and you will see the cost of education drop, students academic scores go up, behavior issues dimminish, and an educational system to meet the demands and expectations of the 21st century.