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Digital blended classroom
It’s the age of virtual realities. A world of digital technology. Every thing is at the beck and call of fingertips. Instant gratification like the sci-fi movies with spellbinding special effects and sound effects which keep students absorbed for hours.
But school in contrast is boring. Good for a competent few, bad for the majority. The classroom fails to stimulate interest: classroom settings still resemble the industrial age learning environments.
In a global sense, every aspect of modern life is governed by technology. There are breakthroughs in technological fields such as robotics, artificial intelligence, Nano technology, quantum computing and biotechnology.
Who is this?
Sophia, AI / robot– She is able to display human like emotions such as smile, grin, show annoyance and anger.
How many human emotions do you think Sophia can make?
20/30/40/50/60+ ANSWER: End of blog
How many human emotions do you think Sophia can make?
20/30/40/50/60+ ANSWER: End of blog
Change is inevitable. It's everywhere be it in fashion, food or trends. But mostly changes are there in knowledge based education. In a digitized world the knowledge of yesterday becomes outdated today. In such a climate of educational change certificates, diplomas, degrees and doctorates become obsolete. It is necessary to constantly update, refresh, update existing knowledge. If not stagnation sets in.
The world transforms itself in digitized knowledge, and information is in the fingertips of any learner, but if the school, or educational institute is not ready to break free from the confinements of the four walls and the blackboard and whiteboard, then as educators we are not preparing learners to be global citizens and problem solvers facing global challenges in the future.
World over educators are rethinking and re-evaluating their role in EDUCATION.
The traditional view of learning is teacher centered. But roles have shifted and today the learners are more competent in using technology than the instructor, teacher, and tutor.
Therefore it is incumbent on educators to be tech savvy or make an effort to sign in for training and be willing to try changes in the classroom.
If a teacher's constant complaint is lack of interest and inattentiveness in learners, this is a serious indicator of lack of interest. Perhaps the lesson is the problem.
Educators can question themselves about their classroom teaching approaches:
Are we teaching the way our teachers taught us?
Does that approach suit the mindset of present day learners?
Do we expect our students to be quiet, attentive and subservient?
Does the curriculum expect students to amass information, regurgitate and produce at examinations?
Are we dictators or facilitators in the classroom?
Do we as teachers go on lecturing and dictating notes? What is the purpose of this method except to train students parrot like to do tasks in which there is scant engagement.
Spoon-feeding and mollycoddling learners do them more harm than good.
Spoon-feeding and mollycoddling learners do them more harm than good.
The end goal
of learning
is to produce
capable ,
independent thinkers
and confident youth.
of learning
is to produce
capable ,
independent thinkers
and confident youth.
If education is from the cradle to the grave, as educators it is incumbent on us to refresh our knowledge and be ready to facilitate student centred learning opportunities to learners.
For this purpose a blended classroom is a great idea. The teacher should blend tools, technology, and re-invent classroom space and create an environment conducive to learning. In such an environment students collaborate in groups to tackle problem based tasks.
Everything learners
learn today
must prepare
them
for
the FUTURE.
Relationships are important
to be global citizens
in a technologically connected world.
to be global citizens
in a technologically connected world.
Students are different. There can be differences in culture, language, ethnicity , religion and geography. In a heterogenous classroom where different students mingle and communicate the atmosphere should be dynamic: a vibrant hub with ideas and discussions being integrated. Some respond to visual stimuli, yet others to auditory/sensory and some to active participation in tasks.
Different ways of engagement - varied learning styles.
To teach is to guide, to shape minds to be successful in a global setting. But are educators in tune with the needs of the learners? There are of course a grading system to evaluate learner proficiency. Learners are expected to regurgitate content based on rote learning, face term assessments and be promoted to the next grade. But are term assessments sufficient to assess the performance of every learner ? It may be a limitation placed on the capabilities of some students for there are differently abled learners struggling to follow the pace set by the curriculum. Therefore it may not always be possible to assess academic performance based on a three or five hour assessment.
There are ways though to fairly assess student performance through class collaborative tasks and problem solving tasks. The classroom transforms to a blended and flipped learning environment and learners into active engaged participants. The teachers role is that of facilitator.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
Real world problems of the 21st century. Problems to be solved - problems for which learners of today will have to find solutions in the future.
Real world problems of the 21st century. Problems to be solved - problems for which learners of today will have to find solutions in the future.
As facilitators, the teacher is faced with a choice of digital equipment to combine with face-to-face instruction in a blended learning environment. Gauging the strengths and weaknesses of the learners and creating authentic lessons with the use of technology may be a challenge to the teacher. Sometimes the technology may not be available in schools and institutions as there could be a reluctance to embrace changes to existing systems and management styles.
Nevertheless change is inevitable.
Outdated methods and systems cannot sustain themselves for long. Teachers must learn with their students to move with the rapid pace set by educational changes.
The message is clear. Technology may not replace teachers but teachers who are reluctant to use technology will be replaced by those who are not. It is all to do with how much commitment one has to improve and train and learn. Effective communication depends on using technology students are already familiar with such as the mobile,computer,and internet to enhance lesson objectives. Educators manage resources which are already available to create dynamic, learning environments where learner curiosity is piqued and queries about the subject matter is the focal point of discussion. Thus encouraging learner engagement. An engaged classroom is one that collaborates in problem solving tasks and in solving real world problems.
Learners engaged in tasks absorb information faster, benefit from the tasks and want to know more. However teacher oriented face to face interactions too are vital to guide and inform learners on concepts and principles of a lesson.
When there are 30 or more students in each class representing a cross-section of society with different learning requirements , teachers should accommodate different teaching and learning styles based on individual needs, and direct learners to achieve possible targets and not impossible achievement goals.
As educators, teachers must move beyond a single approach of teaching and remember that while teaching, they are also processing and learning through the experience.
But if every lesson is direct instruction based that does not
bode well for the teacher.
It's better to use
blended learning environments
to encourage learner collaboration
Forward moving institutions are eager to integrate technology into their curriculum as they are aware of the changing scenario in education. To encourage learning and bring about professionals in the field for training is to empower teachers to modify and update teaching styles. Simultaneously the upgrading of the classrooms with smartboards, wi-fi and rearranging classroom space to suit the blended learning classroom environment is essential. Flexible equipment and classroom learning attitudes generate interested and happy learners.
Transforming classrooms into 21st century learning environments may take time, commitment and funding, but school principals/heads with a vision are quick to discern the need for change and take bold steps and pioneer change. For change is the only unchangeable aspect of education, nothing remains the same.
Sophia can make 62 facial expressions.
ඩිජිටල්
පන්ති කාමරය
අද නූතන ජීවිතය පාලනය වන්නේ තාක්ෂණයෙනි.
21 වන සියවස. –
අප ඩිජිටල්කරණය වූ ලෝකයක සිටිමු. ඊයේ දැනුම අද යල් පැන ගිය එකක් බවට පත්වේ. ගුරුවරුන් ඔවුන්ගේ දැනුම යාවත්කාලීන කළ යුතුය.
යමෙකු ඊයේ ලබාගත් සම්මාන වලින් සෑහීමකට පත්වේ නම් සහ ඔහුගේ හෝ ඇයගේ දැනුම යාවත්කාලීන කිරීමට කිසිදු උත්සාහයක් නොගන්නේ නම්, එකතැන පල්වීමක් ඇත.
අපේ ගුරුවරු අපට ඉගැන්වූ ආකාරයට අප උගන්වන්නේද?
එම ප්රවේශය වර්තමාන ඉගෙන ගන්නන්ගේ මානසිකත්වයට ගැලපේද?
අපේ සිසුන් නිශ්ශබ්දව,
අවධානයෙන් සිටිනු ඇතැයි අපි අපේක්ෂා කරනවාද?
විෂයමාලාව සිසුන් කටපාඩම් කර නැවත කියවීම අපේක්ෂා කරයිද ?
අපි පන්ති කාමරයේ ඒකාධිපතියන් ද?
ඉගෙනීමේ අවසාන ඉලක්කය වන්නේ දක්ෂ ස්වාධීන චින්තකයින් සහ විශ්වාසවන්ත තරුණයින් බිහි කිරීමයි.
ඉදිරියට යන ආයතන තම විෂය මාලාවට තාක්ෂණය ඒකාබද්ධ කිරීමට උනන්දු වෙති . පන්ති කාමර 21 වන සියවසේ ඉගෙනුම් පරිසරයක් බවට පරිවර්තනය කිරීම සඳහා කාලය හා කැපවීම සහ අරමුදල් අවශ්ය වේ , නමුත් දැක්මක් ඇති පාසල් මූලධර්ම වෙනස් වීමේ අවශ්යතාවය වටහා ගැනීමටත්, නිර්භීත පියවර සහ පුරෝගාමී වෙනසක් කිරීමටත් ඉක්මන් වේ .
