Sunday, September 18, 2016

The 21st Century Shift

When was the last time you got up to change the channel on your TV, used a payphone, or turned on a VCR? The advancement of technology has impacted our daily lives and has shifted the course of public education. The video 21st Century Education in New Brunswick, Canada highlights how vital it is as educators to keep up with the pace of technology in order to better serve our students. The fact that the top ten jobs today didn’t exist in 2004 is quite phenomenal. Our instruction should be geared to creating a generation of learners prepared for their future in a technologically accelerated world. Student-centered and personalized learning is how our students learn best and this is the model and method that is becoming the trend in education today. Furthermore what students learn, regardless of the subject matter – whether it is ESL or biology— should be made relevant and applicable to the real world or else what they acquire will not be meaningful, thus not fully preparing them for their careers in our global economy. I love the idea of videoconferencing with other classes internationally to work on a collaborative projects using online platforms. I believe this would give students exposure to new cultures, tools, and experiences that will impact their attitudes and motivations of learning. 

“We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it.” This is a profound quote by author Erik Qualman cited in the video Social Media Revolution 2011. I remember when there was a time when friends would spend hours on the phone with one another, when family members who were oceans apart rarely had contact, or when relationships began in person with the first “Hi.” Today however, the shift of technology and more specifically, the increased use of social media has changed the lifestyle of our global population. Facebook is one of the leading social media websites, connecting friends, family and creating new (and also breaking) relationships.


This “social media revolution” has also greatly affected education and how students learn. Kindergarteners are now using iPads in the classroom and there is now a shift in individuals using eReaders instead of physical books. Simple paper and pencil and writing on the chalkboard has become somewhat obsolete; instead creating a lively and technologically-integrated classroom for our learners is the new norm. From my experience, students today need to be stimulated during lessons in order to maintain their focus, especially for young learners. We can’t ignore this shift. We can’t ignore social media. Instead, let us see how we can use it to our advantage to effectively teach our learners.

3 comments:

  1. I have to admit: I do not Facebook (I love how nouns can become verbs-etymology is so fun). I just have no desire to know what people are doing on that level. I cling to the old-fashioned notion that if I wanted to know what you were doing, I would know what you were doing. I do text my friends and relatives but I just don't use it. I see my friends at work and socially but I guess I am one of 10 people on the planet Earth who doesn't try to avoid that person from 8th grade study hall who wants to be FB friends with me (lol) or that college floor-mate posts every time she eats a ham sandwich (I know you can turn that off). I do on on from time to time to look at pictures; I am not a total blackout on it, but it's usually for a specific reason. I have friends who spend hours on it. Just not for me. Twitter on the other hand is definitely for me so I am not "off the grid" but the other thing is being a teacher we do have to be mindful of our social media footprints. I get a lot of ideas from Pinterest, Twitter, blogs, and tech sites. I just can't seem to do FB after all these years. Anyone out there able to convince me?

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  2. Hi Virginia,
    I love the facts you point out in your blog. They are real. They also make me feel nervous because I can feel the urgency to use new educational technology for this generation. Even my little brother who is only 4 years old learns songs from iPad in his kindergarten. When he comes back home he will ask me to play the videos he has learned from to show what he has learned for my families. You are right we cannot ignore the shift in social media and teaching methods at 21st centuries.

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  3. Hi Sheila,

    Yes! Most of the kindergartens in my countries use iPads to teach kids now, I feel like those kids even learn stuff faster than us, and also they will know much more about this world than me by my age. Sometimes it's kind of intimidating that my students know something that I don't even know, this fact keeps me learning new technology and be creative, so I think not only our students need to be stimulated to maintain their focus, teachers needed to be stimulated also to keep our knowledge updated.

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