What is the role of the teacher when it pertains to learning and understanding 21st Century tools?
At the top of my blog you will see an aquarium with eight very bright fish. The fish could represent my students and their eagerness to follow, ingest and to seek knowledge as their fulfillment. When using the cursor as the symbol for the teacher you will notice how the fish will follow the lead and swim in the direction of the teacher. The teacher can nourish the students by giving them tidbits of information to drive their interests, this is done by clicking the cursor and releasing the dot. These dots could be the tools that we give our students to use within the classroom. The fish will gobble the tools up and be invigorated by the competition to achieve. Seems like an analogy may be the best way to describe a teacher’s role with 21st century tools, as I believe it is the ability to introduce the students to the many ways they are able to comprehend the learning, using these tools of technology. If we don’t have access to the tools, or nourishment for our students, how will they grow? Fish travel together, just as society moves in a forward direction. We can’t let our school be left behind….we need to nourish their souls!
Ha! Love the analogy and the explanation behind your blog. A symbol. There are so many ways to interpret this and question it at the same time. What about those fish who don't want to follow, how can we make our own path? What if the path is created from a bias or culturally driven? How do we encourage a variety of paths, while also engaging in collaboration and team oriented learning?
ReplyDeleteThe fish who don't want to follow will end up in my classroom or be helped through special needs. We make our path slowly while gaining confidence and at the same time try to remove the bias that exists in every society. Just one of the many roles a teacher commits to. I believe collaboration and team learning will create those paths for students to be encouraged by their own intrinsic goals.
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