2016 and Beyond: The Future of Classroom Technology
By Melanie Nathan
It is difficult to believe that in my lifetime - a span of almost 25 years - my community has gone from very few people having a home computer and even fewer people having an internet connection to worldwide high-tech classrooms that connect nations that are separated by thousands and thousands of miles. In this article, Melanie Nathan discusses four major innovations that are imperative to the modern classroom and what will continue to be important as technology develops or becomes more common in the coming years. For those of us who are in the educational field, technology is increasingly important to our classrooms and in the coming years will be the main focus of our curriculum. Knowing this, being aware of what technologies are becoming available to us is imperative to having not only an updated classroom but one that gives the students the tools they'll need to be successful in the ever growing technological society we live in today.
The article hits on points such as 3D printing and new platforms that teachers and districts will be using in order to share information with students but the most important point I found was that of the mobile classroom. Going on numerous job interviews, one of the first questions that I ask districts is whether or not the school is headed in the direction of 1-to-1 classrooms, meaning that all students have their own computer or device. I have yet to get a no from an interviewer. Across the nation and more increasingly the globe, classrooms are going nearly paperless with all students connected together on the school network and learning technology as it becomes available, unheard of in prior generations.
Global and mobile classrooms are on of the most exciting things about becoming a teacher in 2016. My possibilities for lessons and teaching are virtually endless. However, while this is an exciting time in education, it can also be trying one as new sources of distraction are available to students. With the rise of the mobile classroom, I imagine more and more teachers will move to the back and play more of a "man behind the curtain" role in the classroom. How else are we going to make sure that all of our students are on task in the classroom if instruction stays at the front of the class like is the norm. Overall, though, I believe that the new technological innovations in the classroom can be a great thing for students and teachers alike. Students will take a greater amount of accountability in their learning than any previous generation and teachers will have more resources at their fingertips than the educators that came before them.
The article hits on points such as 3D printing and new platforms that teachers and districts will be using in order to share information with students but the most important point I found was that of the mobile classroom. Going on numerous job interviews, one of the first questions that I ask districts is whether or not the school is headed in the direction of 1-to-1 classrooms, meaning that all students have their own computer or device. I have yet to get a no from an interviewer. Across the nation and more increasingly the globe, classrooms are going nearly paperless with all students connected together on the school network and learning technology as it becomes available, unheard of in prior generations.
Global and mobile classrooms are on of the most exciting things about becoming a teacher in 2016. My possibilities for lessons and teaching are virtually endless. However, while this is an exciting time in education, it can also be trying one as new sources of distraction are available to students. With the rise of the mobile classroom, I imagine more and more teachers will move to the back and play more of a "man behind the curtain" role in the classroom. How else are we going to make sure that all of our students are on task in the classroom if instruction stays at the front of the class like is the norm. Overall, though, I believe that the new technological innovations in the classroom can be a great thing for students and teachers alike. Students will take a greater amount of accountability in their learning than any previous generation and teachers will have more resources at their fingertips than the educators that came before them.
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