Stephen Mahaley (mahaley@mail.duke.edu)
Fri, 23 Jul 1999 08:31:06 -0400
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 08:31:06 -0400 From: Stephen Mahaley <mahaley@mail.duke.edu> Subject: 21st century teaching
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The challenges facing teaching in the 21st century will be those that
are facing teachers now. Too much emphasis seems, at times, to be
placed on this altogether random association of the passing of one
century with changes galore. No doubt we are living in a time of rapid
technological change, but we mustn't forget that the learner, for the
most part, retains the
same basic needs and motivations for moving through life.
I don't think we should throw out what we have gained from educational
psychologists and learning theorists: Gagné, Piaget, Bruner, Ausubel,
and others have contributed to a knowledge base that informs todays
educated teacher about possible avenues to take when
approaching an instructional task. Sure, learners today now have the
potential for access to great piles of information, to virtual
experiences, to develop contacts with others throughout the world. This
does not, however, change the fact that the teacher must find ways to
help learners manage this mass of information, and to help them develop
an accurate structure in their own minds.
That being said, we may have to look at some large scale possibilities
for the future. Let's talk
about the public school teachers in the U.S., for example. The
experience of these teachers is one in which their subject matters are
driven and defined by state-level agencies, and those agencies being
affected by federal initiatives for better test scores, etc. Students
come to their schools from a myriad of backgrounds, some entering middle
school with no ability to read. Others come to school with (already) a
wealth of resources at their disposal and many grade-level skills
mastered. I see no indication, at present, that this situation is going
to be different as the clock rolls us into the 21st! What will the
curriculum for this next century entail? Even if we say goodbye to
typing/keyboard classes and hello to voice recognition, how will the
basic curriculum differ, if at all, and how might educational technology
help to tailor learning to the students' levels and interests?
So, I'll stop here (with so many more things left to say...) by inviting
the readership to consider
the issues of diversity in public education, and the roll that
technology may play in addressing the needs of such a wide range of
students and their abilities. I agree with the general notion of
"authenticity" in educational content, presentation, and evaluation, and
I think we need to consider the larger issues of who our students are,
and what skills will be important for them as technology continues to
develop.
-
Stephen M. Mahaley
Distributed Learning Support Specialist
Executive Education, Fuqua School of Business
Duke University
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