How will ICT change future classrooms?

“the opportunities presented by ICT has prompted the use of ICT, initially to extend the outreach of quality education and deal with the increase in the demand for engineering education in the country” (Bhattacharya, 2003).

“The primary focus should be on:

       Supporting teachers rather than replacing them. The role of teachers could change to that of resource material producers as well as a mentors and facilitators.

       Enhancing the capabilities of teachers by taking over the dissemination of resource

 material, increasing outreach, aiding interaction across larger groups of students and greater geographical distances.

       Promoting synchronous and asynchronous learning for students using both offline and

      online interaction for students through two-way audio and video.”

“Using technology simply to support lecture-based instruction falls far short of recommended best practice (Lawless & Pellegrino, 2007; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2007; Zemelman, Daniels, & Hyde, 2005). Although survey data may suggest that the “teaching process is fundamentally changing as professional development is taking teachers from learning how computers work to using technology to change how they teach”

My summary

ICT will change our classrooms in two main ways; technology will make information and educational experiences available that were previously unreachable and ICT will change the way future teachers teach and operate within their classrooms.

Technologies such as search engines and online books and articles will mean that future students will be able to access information faster and easier than past generations.

Smart boards married with other technologies such as virtual gaming and internet can mean that students will be able to take virtual excursions to places that previously were impossible.

New technologies work best in group and student centred learning styles. This means the role of the teacher as “the beacon of knowledge” as it has been in the past will have to change in order to accommodate student centred learning. Teachers will become more as mentors to the students, pointing students in the right direction and providing infrastructure for students to facilitate their own learning.  

References

Bhattacharya, B. (2003, March). Country paper on improvements in educational productivity promotion through e-learning. Paper presented at the Asian Productivity Organization-sponsored seminar on ‘New Multimedia Strategies for Productivity Promotion – With Special Focus on e-Learning’, Taipei, Republic of China. Cited in Bhattacharya, B. (2008). Engineering Education in India- the role of ICT. Innovations in Education and Teaching International Vol. 45, No. 2, 93-101.

Lawless, K. A., & Pellegrino, J. W. (2007). Professional development in integrating technology into teaching and learning: Knowns, unknowns, and ways to pursue better questions and answers. Review of Educational Research, 77, 575–614.