During the Education Nation 2011 Summit this year in New York, many students expressed a growing concern about the current teaching methods in educational establishments. These issues included the question as to whether these teaching techniques were up to date, especially around the lack of teacher: student interaction and out-dated teaching styles.
There were some unachievable and unrealistic issues raised during this meeting such as the notion that all teachers should also become qualified counsellors. Other concerns that arose during this summit however are longstanding and recurring issues.An example of these concerns is whether exams actually test what the students have learnt or even if they are current and relevant to today’s working requirements.
The rapid increase in technology has meant that it is easier than ever for students to access information in new and exciting ways through the medium of the Internet. You can find tutorials on YouTube for example which stimulate and appeal far more than sitting in a stale classroom environment. Students who attended the summit expressed a notion that teachers who used technology as part of their classroom sessions created a far more interesting lesson. This motivated the students to listen and learn as the subject and methods were far more current than previous out-dated techniques.
Studies have shown that teachers who regularly use technology as part of the lesson have more inspired and engaged students thus resulting in better exam results.
Another major point that was raised was the apparent drift away from the understanding that teachers are supposed to encourage each student to fulfil their own full potential in order to give each pupil the best start in life. The strong notion that positive reinforcement has fallen by the wayside was strengthened by comments suggesting that teachers have lost sight of the fact that positive reinforcement creates more positive students. There is strong feeling that teachers have lost sight of this fact.
One suggested solution was to send teachers on refresher courses to re-connect with their students. This was suggested particularly in relation to teachersusing IT in the course of their lessons. There was a worry that many teachers would shy away from the challenge of learning new techniques in the IT world as it moves so quickly and is very difficult to keep ahead of new technologies. Ideally these training courses would be government-funded with particular emphasis on IT in the classroom as part of an on-going project to re-engage the nation resulting in a better calibre of IT professionals.
Teachers who are interested in re-learning IT skills as well as expanding their knowledge with newer skills should consider looking into the heavily discounted software for teachers available at the Phoenix Student Store.
With typical savings of up to 90% on RRP including packages by Microsoft and Adobe software for students, teachers are sure to learn new, essential skills at the click of a button. Many of these packages come with free training such as the Adobe CS5 Student and Teacher Edition; an excellent option as this comes with 24 hours’ worth of free training videos.