The coronavirus attack has turned the world upside down.
The things once considered strange are the new normal, including the closing of schools and colleges, increased use of technology in ordering food and working from home.
Because teaching, eating, and enterprise ought ought to go on with as few hitches as possible. Under the same set-up, some are having a smooth flow while the rest are moving at snail speed. Specifically, private schools and universities are miles away of their public counterparts that are trying to catch up.
Teachers, just like the other workers in various sectors, must find avenues to reach students. Doing this, however, requires upskilling to keep up with the times in the era of internet revolution and tech disruption.
They must adapt, for teaching is the process of engaging the learners in the active construction of knowledge. Therefore, apart from the subject matter, the teacher needs to transform the students into active learners.
To cope, the teacher of the future requires prowess in technology and to become networked, two things that need both teachers and students to go back to school since Covid-19 has set the pace.
Things will never be the same again. While teachers who shared school work and notes online appeared the sophisticated tutor and the go-to tech champion, post-coronavirus, the skill will be one of the must-have.
A networked teacher can access blogs, wikis, digital photo sharing, online communities, social networking, video conferences and chats, colleagues, and popular media.
Although these may appear to support informal learning, they take teaching and learning to the learners’ immediate environment.
As is said, teaching and learning are social processes that occur through interpersonal interaction within a cooperative context. Thus, the people involved must work together, develop and share knowledge, experiences, and understanding.
Upon directing self to the internet as an avenue for delivery, the teacher will be in control, including who to connect with at what time.
The recent occurrences demonstrate the need to integrate the internet in the classroom while the teacher will be selecting the relevant and purposeful content. Importantly, the syllabus should reflect the pedagogy expected, delivering materials and activities that are dynamic and increase student involvement.
Some of the specifications may include the deadline for submitting assignments, the number of words, digital video files, citations, work format and language for readability.
The post can be sent to an interactive “whiteboard” on which the students read each other’s work, and react to it constructively. From the discussions, the students learn from one another. Where necessary and appropriate, the teacher can hold virtual classes through which the teacher also learns.
How should teachers prepare for these changes and more? It is the time to practise, learn at own time by joining educational blogs and wikis, look for free online resources, and sign up for newsletters so that they can participate in webinars and online conferences. Without some of these endeavours, teachers will start looking for the usual cheese while the ground already shifted.
The good news is that integrating internet in the classroom is not rocket science. Once the teacher signs up for free or affordable courses, he can explore and get tutorials. Further, social bookmaking tools can also be handy in allowing thousands of users to create links that are thematically tagged for fellow teachers and students.
A direction like this will encourage working ffrom home, especially among women who have been battling between choosing and marriage and career. Integrating technology in the classroom calls for a more active role of the government in providing affordable power and facilitating internet access and favourable taxes to deepen these investments.
As Lucius Plutarch, a Greek middle Platonist once observed, the mind is a fire to be kindled, not a vessel to be filled. To revamp teaching in the 21st century, organising and implementing the tech revolution will be an eye-opener.
