Teaching to the way our students learn is a non-negotiable facet of teaching all educators and supporters of education must be willing to embrace. The way today’s students have evolved is a perfect example of this necessity. The students in classrooms today are completely different than those of decades past, with both groups being products of the time period and societies they live in. Since our society is different from the past, so too are our students, and so too must be our ways of teaching those students. Although there are facets of theories and teaching practices which will always be applicable someway in teaching any group, to blindly follow past theories is like trying to fit a square block in a round hole. Bearing this in mind, educators must be willing to adapt and change with their students to stay relevant and affective in the learning journey of the students.
Having said this, the inclusion of educational technology into the learning process and the adoption of newer learning theories such as connectivism must be accepted by teachers and educational supporters. Today’s students are constantly connected to information and often rarely seen without some type of web based device in their presence. As teachers we have to use this fixation with technology to our advantage instead of fighting it because, both society, and today’s students now learn with this constant access to information. Teachers and administrators need to look at these devices, not from the lens of them being a distraction, but as a valuable learning tool which can engage and excite today’s learners. Once again I am reminded of an old teaching adage which applies nicely to this idea. “If you cannot learn from how I teach, then I will teach in a way you can learn.” Education and its members have to adhere to this saying and change with the times or risk wasting a perfect opportunity to reach today’s students and those of the future.
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