The two videos we watched this week were highly encouraging and motivational in terms of incorporating digital technology effectively and promoting change with our innovation plans. Mitra (2013) spoke about the education system not being broken, just obsolete and not needed anymore. This was something that stood out to me because I have worked in a fully virtual environment for over 5 years. While most of my work has been with adults, I have worked with students to see the benefits of giving them the opportunity to explore and access digital programs that allow them more freedom than textbooks and classroom learning. Our model is a flipped classroom, so students take pre-learning, then come to an interactive class, and afterward have fun things to do for homework. They can choose the things they would like to do at their own pace for extended learning, or take additional supplementary classes that they are interested in. In the classes, the online teacher is placed in the middle of learning to act as a guide, ensuring the student is on track and learning appropriately through the self-paced work. I have had the pleasure of seeing the future of education and the excitement of students coming to each class wanting to learn more.
Changing with technology, our world, and our needs is essential to ensuring that we educate at the highest level possible. The covid pandemic is when I saw a significant shift in the feelings of brick-and-mortar teachers as they were thrust into the same type of classroom we were using. I was able to support them with how to apply online skills and how to reach students through a computer. It was not easy at first, but they found comfort and a lot of pleasure in the process by the time they were moving back into regular classrooms. Some mentioned that while they missed being in person and some things were harder virtually, they could see the benefit of hybrid classes in the future or incorporating more technology for their students.
While the change seems hard, it doesn’t have to be. Educators find themselves overwhelmed daily by the new learning requirements amidst the already stressful work year. So many changes have happened recently that are exciting and new, but at the same time seem impossible. Patti Dobrowolski (2015) discusses how simple change can be by taking “3 bold steps”: seeing, believing, and acting on your desired new reality. Visualizing where we want to be in the future, and in her recommendation drawing it, allows you to see it clearly. She says that all you must do to trick your brain into making the change that only 10% are successful in making is to wake up and act on it by making some effort each day (ProjectHappyWay, 2015). Applying this concept to the world of educational technology, instead of becoming overwhelmed by looking at all the learning I have yet to accomplish, I plan to take it a day at a time. Make small changes until I am learning consistently and creating change with my learners.
References
Mitra, S. (2013). Sugata Mitra: Build a School in the Cloud [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3jYVe1RGaU
ProjectHappyWay. (2015). Best Ted Talks 2015 - Draw your future - Take control of your life. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vl6wCiUZYc
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