Kate's Perspective
Educational pedagogy is evolving due to technology, as it affords new opportunities and resources previously unavailable. With this technology we find ourselves, as teachers, able to assess and engage with students in a way which equalizes the playing field in terms of multiple intelligences and learning disabilities. In the age of digital natives, utilizing technology in the classroom seems a redundant procedure. However, it is often overlooked due to the effort, time and resources needed to incorporate new learning strategies into our archaic education system. Unfortunately, this is most often witnessed when students with learning disabilities are left behind.
While the classics of education retain their theoretical importance, their relative usefulness in the world has diminished. The ability to hand-write has been replaced by the ability to create a word document. Numeration and arithmetic has been replaced by the calculator we constantly hold in the palm of our hand. Students who struggle to fit into (arguably) outdated traditional learning styles should not be forced to. Instead, we should be embracing and utilizing the many methods that technology gives us. In doing so, we are teaching our students to measure self-worth and success beyond test scores and grade averages. We are teaching students to look beyond the linear equation, to problem solve through creativity and to utilize methods which work for the individual learner - rather than what the educational system says should work for them.
While the classics of education retain their theoretical importance, their relative usefulness in the world has diminished. The ability to hand-write has been replaced by the ability to create a word document. Numeration and arithmetic has been replaced by the calculator we constantly hold in the palm of our hand. Students who struggle to fit into (arguably) outdated traditional learning styles should not be forced to. Instead, we should be embracing and utilizing the many methods that technology gives us. In doing so, we are teaching our students to measure self-worth and success beyond test scores and grade averages. We are teaching students to look beyond the linear equation, to problem solve through creativity and to utilize methods which work for the individual learner - rather than what the educational system says should work for them.