Innovation and 21st Century learning mean different things to different people. This little girl sums up my views in a simple, yet direct fashion:
The role of an educator in the 21st Century relies on transformations in teaching and learning to meet the needs of students in today's society. Innovative instruction contains many of these elements:
Are you an innovative educator?
How do we answer the questions posed by this young girl, move forward into the 21st century, innovate, collaborate, discuss, etc. without neglecting a commitment to a core curriculum of any kind? Or should we even be concerned about accountability to (an improved version of) content standards? We must and should move forward. I just fear that there are many (not you) who are impulsively swinging their pedagogical pendulums without exercising caution and protecting the good work (however great or little it may be) accomplished in the educational reform of the 20th century. May we take smart and deliberate innovative steps forward, not impulsive leaps driven by infatuations with cutting edge technologies.
ReplyDeleteBTW: I think this means viewing the technology itself as a manipulative, a tool, a device, and not merely an offering to appease our student's technological appetites.
The choice is an easy one; Classroom innovation helps our community meet the challenges of the 21st Century. The need for effective computer education cannot be overstated. www.cedafec.blogspot.com
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