This blog discusses my views on contemporary learners and teachers.
Contemporary Learners
How will the characteristics of our Gen Z learners depicted in the Meet GenZ video define their engagement in the traditional classroom snippet?
The traditional classroom showed in the video would be ineffective in classrooms across the globe in nowadays. Gen Z learners have become accustom to inclusive classrooms and differentiated teaching strategies. Some of the key characteristics that have been established in Gen Z's include:
- Question traditional choices
- Value inclusiveness and differentiation
- Communicate with speed and images
(Ratinecas, 2014)
None of the above key characteristics are compatible with the traditional classroom and even earlier generations as seen in the video are disinterested in the class. The current generation needs to be constantly actively engaging their brains and this is where ICT can really come into play. ICT would allow students to access information quickly and effectively, allowing them to say engaged.
Referring to the ideas presented by Willis and Robinson, is this level of creativity in evidence in the schools you have attended, both as a student, and as a preservice teacher? Furthermore, is this level of creativity in evidence in your University units? As secondary pre-service teaching students, you will experience a variety of approaches to teaching, learning and course design in your discipline studies. Why were your previous studies presented in that particular way? How could they have been presented?
I personally believe that the level of creativity presented by Willis and Robinson is becoming more rare in both primary and secondary education. There could be a number of factors that contribute to this lack of creativity, however I believe that it is due to a lack of time. The amount of non-contact time teachers are given in comparison to the amount of lessons they have to teach is simply not enough to provide each class with 110% effort. This is by no fault of the teacher as they are already spending additional time before and after school hours just to have their lessons planed for the following day. This is especially true for new teachers and often results in burn out and up to 50% of teachers leaving the profession before the five year mark (Dadvand and Dawborn-Gundlach, 2020).
What do you think the implications are of a curriculum that is linear, progressive, aimed at a single learning outcome for the development of both individuals and the society we live in?
A linear, progressive curriculum with a single learning outcome has its place within the curriculum. However, it is important to keep in mind that the learning outcome must be differentiated for those students who are not at the same level as their peers. Furthermore, not every student will be able to complete this task in the same timeframe as we should adjust accordingly to ensure that each student is given an equal opportunity to gain skill for their future beyond school.
How can ICTs help you in the development of a professional learning network? How are you feeling about this?
Utilizing ICT as a resource would allow for endless opportunities to develop a professional learning network. We live in a time where we are able to instantly message people on the other side of the world and we should take advantage of that. The ability to be able to join a page or group specifically (for example) year 9 biology teachers in Australia is phenomenal. Having access to an online network such as this, as an extension to a professional network within your staffroom would allow for endless learning experiences.
Contemporary Teachers
To what extent is it reasonable to conclude that if you are not experiencing positive or negative emotions about the materials and activities in any learning experience, that you are potentially disinterested or not motivated? DIscuss in relation to your first emotional response to the nature of this unit.
Through my own experience, I believe that the emotional state of the student has a large impact on their learning experience. If the student experiences mostly negative emotions when engaging with the class activities, their level of motivation will be significantly lower than their peers. I have had the privilege to teach a number of classes on permission to teach in 2021, alongside completing my own studies. I found that it is essential for students to be 'hooked' into the lesson in order to keep the students engaged with the class activities. I have experienced this personally through my own studies and found it incredible insightful to be a student myself while teaching younger students.
Elaborate on your emotions on engaging further with this unit? Positive, negative. Indifferent?
My initial emotional response upon reviewing this unit (EDSE20016) was filled with positivity. I account this to a few key factors. I have completed a bachelors degree in digital media and work digitally as a consumer and producer on a daily basis. I was also fortunate enough to have a break between my last university term, allowing myself to recover mentally and avoiding burnout. The combination of my past experience and current mental health space has allowed me to come into the new term with positive emotions.
To what extent do you have the commitment to actively interrogate your emotions, and your beliefs about creative pedagogy (that extends beyond the mere delivery of information to your learners)? How might you be challenged to engage as you enter this unit?
I strongly believe in continuing to improve yourself and your practice. I personally find that in my personal and work life, I must be able to reflect and analyse in order to be able to improve my skills. This leads me to always look for ways to improve my pedagogy and am willing to give anything a try, but am mindful to not force a new technique for the sake of it as it may be more beneficial in a different setting.
Identify your present values and beliefs about ICT in the classroom. Keep it brief and focused.
Technology is embedded in every aspect of our lives in todays day and age. I believe that it is essential that students develop 21st century skills and have digital literacy. However, it is important that these digital tools are not over-used in school settings for the sake of it. It is still a key skill that students are able to write using a pen or pencil, not just type on their computer, or to rely on Words spell checking tool. If used correctly, ICT is an amazing asset to classrooms (such as projecting differentiated maths questions). However, ICT needs to be balanced and educators must remain aware of students different socio-economic statuses, which may hinder their fair opportunities.
Identify your approach to teaching and learning - are you committed to the delivery of information, with yourself in control of all learning? Are you willing to let go of some control over what your learners learn, and how they learn it?
I am a big fan of using explicit teaching. I find that this is a good balance between delivering students the necessary information and allowing them to implement this new knowledge in order to gain an understanding. Some students are kinaesthetic learners, where others may be visual or auditory. Not every students learns the same. I think it is important to keep this in mind and provide students with various ways of building an understanding of the content.
Identify any challenges to your values and beliefs as you enter this unit?
Although it is still the early days of this unit (being week one), I have not encountered any challenges to my values or beliefs as I believe that when ICT is used appropriately, it can be an incredible asset to classrooms.
What experience do you have with ICT in the classroom?
During my Permission to Teach and my placements, ICT was used in every class I either taught or observed. My experience will be skewed however as I taught Digital Technologies and Media. The school I was at did not have a computer laboratory and was a BYOx school, requiring each student to bring their own laptop. The school I was at however was in a low socio-economic area and laptops were often old, broken or unfortunately stolen. These students could not afford to replace them and there were only a limited number of equity laptops available through the school. This made it quite difficult to teach a subject based around digital technologies. I believe that ICT in the classroom, in other subjects (not just digital technologies) is a great way to implement formative assessment and differentiation. It can however, be difficult to monitor students' use of their own laptops when they 'hotspot' their mobile phone wifi in order to access restricted websites. I think that there are positives and negatives when implementing anything into classrooms. However, with the limitless opportunities technology allows us, it would be irresponsible to remove it entirely from classroom.
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