Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Reforming Education

Reforming Education

“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.”        
                                              John Dewey


     

      Understanding what integrating technology is in the classroom goes beyond the simple application of SmartBoards or interactive whiteboards and document cameras. Integrating technology deals with comprehending the essence of research learning. It is the key in teaching learners how to grasp knowledge and expanding their knowledge of the world’s current notions. Knowing that learners’interactions and social skills have changed, Madeline Hunter states “Any growth requires a temporary loss of security.” History notes that a traditional educator had excellent control of his or her classroom, desks are in nice neat rows, learners’ materials are organized above and beneath their desk, and learners did not speak unless the teachers gave them permission. Moving forward requires a technology-based curriculum that reconstructs and transforms the tradition classroom; upgrades a traditional educator into a 21st century; transfigures the meaning and teaching in Special Education resource rooms and embraces John Dewey’s philosophy about educating learners in their era. 
 
 
       There are hundreds of reasons why technology should be integrated in the classrooms. And yes, there are just as many issues in K12 school systems that hinder the integration of technology in the classrooms.  Regardless of the reasons or issues, learners are demanding that education transforms their ability to create, expand, and explore the world’s nuances. Common Core Standards dispenses a platform of methods and means that expose learners to a higher level of creativity, communication, critical thinking, and collaborative learning.
 
 
      Does higher levels of creativity, communication, critical thinking or collaboration relate to integrating technology or change the definition of a struggling and/or learning disabled learner? If the answer is yes, then mutation of the learning environments between general education and resource classrooms must be similar in instruction and dynamics.  Resource classrooms' obligations must be more than a location for learners to come and complete general education assignments or homework. The solution begins with rubrics. Rubrics, as an assessment tools, introduce a specific and diverse review of learners’ products.  A Chinese Proverb says “Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.” Rubrics give educators an explicit set of criteria to assess learners’ performances. Rubrics provide struggling and mildly disabled learners’ performances and products to be reviewed differently.

       How long will it take for this excellent approach of teaching to reach the atomic K12 school system?


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