My Belief on Learning_ Additional Two Viewpoints

The luxury of the one week school holiday enabled me through my reflection to continue considering questions on learning. I started off last Thursday’s blog by stating my own brief on learning as I asked questions about the nature of our students learning ─ on what is important for them to learn, about who can learn well and why and about effective strategies for enhancing my own learning and that of helping our students. My goal for such an exercise is to identify ways I could use to explain on the need for a change in teaching and learning. I needed to consider what the change means to me and clarify for myself so as to strengthen my belief on how and what change(s) will affect my teachers and students.

Previously, I spoke on my beliefs on learning based on own personal experience as a parent and my outside working experience. Today, I will like to consider two more viewpoints on the need for change in teaching and learning – the nature of information and technology.

During my school days, the textbook was one of the most important sources of information and additional information meant going to the library. Largely, the nature of information available to us all seemed fixed. Nowadays, the rate of information change is increasing drastically. In additional, the ever-growing amount of information available to all is incredibly different from my schooling days. Hence, such change in the nature of information translated to our students learning in school as shifts from being told to remember and repeating of information to being able to find and use information.

Another significant reason I see for the need for change in teaching and learning is due to technological advancement. When I began my work as a teacher 7 years ago, I believed wholeheartedly in technology as an agent of change to the teaching and learning. At that time, the Internet explosion appeared to be the single most important change I could imagine. I was pretty sure that technology was the silver bullet for learning. Luckily for me and our school, my school leader adjusted my view. He reminded everyone that technology should not being used for technology’s sake. The excitement over the “latest gadget” sometimes clouded on what we are getting our students to learn. Now, I came to see that pen and paper still can be the best tools in the classroom, depending on what we want our students to learn. I also came to see the promise of technology that would address the challenges faced in our current teaching and learning – on finding and using the vast amount of information, collaborative learning, and communication – often not effectively done without technology. I also believe that the baseline ICT skills is one competency (an increasing important one, though often brushed off as trivial by students as well as teachers) among the many skills which I considered as equals that students need. I still believe wholeheartedly in the power of technology to support teaching and learning. Our school has seen success stories highlighted during staff time by our effective teachers using technology (videos, Google site, mobile carts) to its utmost potential. But technology is not, nor should it ever be, the sole focus or end goal of our students’ learning.

So, I have considered what change(s) in teaching and learning means to me, what should be the next step?  …. to be continued.