Education in the New Milieu

Change is a constant thing in this world. While the world is changing for progress it requires education to increase its power to educate people because the world nowa-days is demanding for greater abilities, knowledge and skills to its people. Changes occurs every where and any where; it can happen with just a blink of an eye or a snap of your fingers. There is progress when there is change the two always come together like no one could live without one whether the progress is for good or for bad. When it comes to education, change is also present; from the Spanish period where men only are sent to school to the present period where both men and women are in school learning, from the tree sheds to brick classrooms, and from the teacher centered to learner centered approach of teaching where acquiring exciting and relevant.

Information and Communication Technology and Education

How does technology affect education? Technology has given us the opportunity to obtain, analyze, assemble and communicate information in more detail at much faster than before. Technology enables us to do things we never imagine that could happen. One consequence of this benefits that technology has given to us is to increase the demand of education to help the learners acquire high-level skills that allow them to be globally competitive. Learners must level up his skills in order to go with the progress of the technology and not to be left behind. There are several of techniques, methods, and technologies for helping learners to acquire new knowledge. There are times that the teacher engages the student in lower-level rote learning using drill and practice techniques for basic level learning. However, if the teacher wants to emphasize higher-order skills, methods as simulations, discovery, problem solving and cooperative learning will be employed for learners to experience and solve real-world problems. In these cases you will notice a shift in which the learning experience is carried out. Instead of the teachers total control and manipulation, the importance of the learners role in planning, implementation, and self-evaluation will be emphasized.

Comparison of Teacher-centered and Learner-centered Teacher-Centered Paradigm Knowledge is transmitted from professor to students Learner-Centered Paradigm Students construct knowledge through gathering and synthesizing information and integrating it with the general skills of inquiry, communication, critical thinking, problem solving and so on Students are actively involved

Students passively receive information

Emphasis is on acquisition of knowledge outside Emphasis is on using and communicating the knowledge effectively to address enduring and emerging context in which it will be used issues and problems in real-life contexts Professors role is to be primary information giver and primary evaluator Teaching and assessing are separate Assessment is used to monitor learning Professors role is to coach and facilitate Professor and students evaluate learning together Teaching and assessing are intertwined Assessment is used to promote and diagnose learning Emphasis is on generating better questions and learning from errors Desired learning is assessed directly through papers, projects, performances, portfolios, and the like Approach is compatible with interdisciplinary investigation Culture is cooperative, collaborative, and supportive Professor and students learn together

Emphasis is on right answers Desired learning is assessed indirectly through the use of objectively scored tests

Focus is on a single discipline Culture is competitive and individualistic Only students are viewed as learners

TEACHING-CENTERED versus LEARNING-CENTERED

Concept
Teaching goals

Teacher-Centered
Cover the discipline

Learner-Centered
Students learn: o How to use the discipline o How to integrate disciplines to solve complex problems o An array of core learning objectives, such as communication and information literacy skills Cohesive program with systematically created opportunities to synthesize, practice, and develop increasingly complex ideas, skills, and values Students master learning objectives Students construct knowledge by integrating new learning into what they already know Learning is viewed as a cognitive and social act Based on engagement of students Active learning Assignments for formative purposes Collaborative learning Community service learning Cooperative learning Online, asynchronous, self-directed learning Problem-based learning Grades indicate mastery of learning objectives Designer of learning environments Engage students in their learning Help all students master learning objectives Use classroom assessment to improve courses Use program assessment to improve programs

Organization of the curriculum

Courses in catalog

Course structure How students learn

Faculty cover topics Listening Reading Independent learning, often in competition for grades Based on delivery of information Lecture Assignments and exams for summative purposes

Pedagogy Course delivery

Course grading Faculty role

Faculty as gatekeepers Normal distribution expected Sage on the stage

Effective teaching

Teach (present information) well and those who can will learn

Teacher vs. Learner-Centered Instruction

Teacher-Centered
Focus is on instructor Focus is on language forms and structures (what the instructor knows about the language) Instructor talks; students listen Students work alone Instructor monitors and corrects every student utterance

Learner-Centered
Focus is on both students and instructor Focus is on language use in typical situations (how students will use the language) Instructor models; students interact with instructor and one another Students work in pairs, in groups, or alone depending on the purpose of the activity Students talk without constant instructor monitoring; instructor provides feedback/correction when questions arise

Instructor answers students questions about Students answer each others questions, using instructor language as an information resource Instructor chooses topics Instructor evaluates student learning Classroom is quiet Students have some choice of topics Students evaluate their own learning; instructor also evaluates Classroom is often noisy and busy

The shift from the teacher centered and the learner centered approach in teaching is shown in the above paradigms. (see figure 1,2 and 3)

Generally the new approaches of teaching presented in the new milieu are the fruit of the growing and progressing technology. The peoples willingness to progress is unlimited. The world demands for education is increasing and as a response education is upgrading its curriculum and learning strategies.

References: http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/goalsmethods/learncentpop.html http://assessment.uconn.edu/docs/TeacherCenteredVsLearnerCenteredParadigms.pdf