Another student teacher in my cohort has, on her blog, some interesting things about the tech-generation.
In particular, this, ", if you can Google it, why teach it?" And it’s already become a cliche that the teacher should transfer from being a "sage on the stage" to being "a guide on the side.". That struck me as sadly, depressingly true - to a point. I don't believe that we will become redundant. I believe we have a new challenge that the best of us will rise to meet. I certainly look forward to tackling this issue.
I remember being voracious learner and reader, but now, even I, book-snob that I am, getting my news from the internet. However, I do not believe everything I read online. I approach the internet information highway with caution, as I would any highway. Physical and digital highways can be fraught with peril, but they can be traversed if you do so with your eyes open and your mind (and car) in gear.
I'm aware of the errors online (as I'm sure most adults are) but the difference between us and the students is that we are more skeptical. We will question what is being presented to us, whereas the tech-savvy generation are likely to just accept it.
I think that, as well as being coaches, we will have the (sometimes daunting) task of teaching students to develop their critical thinking skills to question what they read; of pointing them to literature; of challenging their internet-gained perceptions.
It is different, no doubt, but teachers are still needed. Very much. And this presents a challenge to us that is new and exciting.
In particular, this, ", if you can Google it, why teach it?" And it’s already become a cliche that the teacher should transfer from being a "sage on the stage" to being "a guide on the side.". That struck me as sadly, depressingly true - to a point. I don't believe that we will become redundant. I believe we have a new challenge that the best of us will rise to meet. I certainly look forward to tackling this issue.
I remember being voracious learner and reader, but now, even I, book-snob that I am, getting my news from the internet. However, I do not believe everything I read online. I approach the internet information highway with caution, as I would any highway. Physical and digital highways can be fraught with peril, but they can be traversed if you do so with your eyes open and your mind (and car) in gear.
I'm aware of the errors online (as I'm sure most adults are) but the difference between us and the students is that we are more skeptical. We will question what is being presented to us, whereas the tech-savvy generation are likely to just accept it.
I think that, as well as being coaches, we will have the (sometimes daunting) task of teaching students to develop their critical thinking skills to question what they read; of pointing them to literature; of challenging their internet-gained perceptions.
It is different, no doubt, but teachers are still needed. Very much. And this presents a challenge to us that is new and exciting.