Another Brick in the Wall? -- Technology Transforms Traditional Classrooms through Creativity

Another Brick in the Wall?

-- Technology Transforms Traditional Classrooms through Creativity

"Educational Change Challenge"

Nowadays students are growing up in the digital era, where people are more likely to interact with people via blogs, twitter, facebook, etc. through the Internet. Young learners are more used to the electronic devices such as smartphones, iPads. Hence, as educators, we need to alter the way we teach, because the world and the way students learn has changed due to the development of technology.

The traditional classroom is like a factory, where students are like the products and teachers are like the engineers. Instruction tends to be more uniformed within certain time limit based on the standardized curriculum. Students’ imagination and initiative tends to be enclosed within the classroom’s wall. Limited materials and resources can be presented and applied due to the lack of technical support. However, the Internet has broken down the brick wall of the classroom, leading students to an avenue to see the real world outside the classroom and interact with people beyond time and space.

Also, people actually don’t learn exactly at the same pace and in the same way. As George Evans mentioned,“Everystudent can learn, just not on the same day, or the same way.” Technologies give students more room to grow and develop confidence to be successful in learning. Also they can feel a sense of engagement and maintain the curiosity in exploring the subject matters that they are interested in. Hence, in this way, learning is more individual-oriented. In other words learners are the owners of their learning process. They can make a choice and decision in creating their own blogs to share their ideas and findings. Also, sharing common interests, learners can negotiate with each other and work together to present their learning outcomes as a whole through the Internet. Hence, within this cyber community, each individual can contribute towards the same goal.

"RSA Animate-Changing Education Paradigms"

Sir Ken Robinson highligted the significant contribution of the modern technology on education. Technologies do transform the world and the way people communicate, so traditional classrooms are also experiencing a revolutionary change, where more learning opportunities are available for different types of learners. Each student can have a taste of success and a sense of enjoyment in learning. Their creativity and individuality can be better presented in their digital work.

Communicate, Collaborate and Connect