Look at this article - http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/04/07/the-changing-role-of-instructors-moving-from-facilitation-to-constructive-partnerships.aspx
Is what we are teaching information? Or are we teaching how to learn and be "life-long" learners. Isn't it actually more challenging to facilitate learning than it is to merely deliver content? I would argue that it might be a step in the right direction if we can focus on teaching students how to effectively, ethically, authentically, creatively,.....access and use information that is out there than it is to teach course content. The flip side of it is that with technology there is access to so much information that teachers will always be relevant to help students learn to filter and validate what is there. I think with technology our jobs are becoming more critical and essential to the success of the learner but it will take a paradigm shift to understand how our new roles will shape up!
I'd like to hear your comments on this article and this shift in our role as educators.
New Teacher Rules Hitting Classrooms
13 years ago
Posts
The premises of this article are really challenging to think about -- that instructors will be learners side-by-side with the students & won't necessarily know exactly what direction students will choose to go with their learning and that the "content" may truly be different for different students. I think it is absolutely essential that we educators teach students how to be critical thinkers about all the information they now have access to. On another note, I was blown away by the author's reference to Web 3.0 tools - yikes! Diane
ReplyDeleteGreat Article. We, as educators, are absolutely facilitators of learning. It is not our job to do all the learning and then tell the kids. We create the opportunity for them to learn. That's the beauty of technology because it serves as one of the vehicles to that learning.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Diane about the onset of Web 3.0. Wow, I still am on about Web 1.67. I have a long way to go.
Andy
the answer is yes. we do deliver, but we also facilitate. in a constructivist model, the instructor delivers to the student all means by which the student can learn, but it is left to the student to "construct" their own learning. the instructor then facilitates the learning by guiding the student with queries and questions, comments and observations. the result is, hopefully, that the student has developed a deep understanding of the material because of the intimate nature of the process. i think that it folly to say that teachers are one or the other, unless they lecture all of the time or they simply hand out worksheets.
ReplyDeleteron