EDUCATORS AND TEACHERS VS TECHNOLOGY
My chin rested on my palm, carrying the weight of my head, with the full pressure of my head’s weight channeled to my thigh as my elbow rested on it. I had just returned back from a trip in 2010, sitting on the staircase of my family house in Kumbo and wondering how I got here. My thoughts wandered around and fell on my education. What did I even learn in school? Did the teachers not know that technology would soon take over the world? Why did they teach me Latin and Music instead of computing and manufacturing?
I took a lot of time memorizing the staff notation and solfa and when you sat in the exams hall, the music teacher would play the piano keys and you had to recognize the note and transcribe it on your paper by first writing to Staff and then to Sofa. I think I did it just for the exams. Choir practice sessions were usually the moments for me to think about what I miss from being home. Latin was usually cool because it raised my marks and my average but again fast forward to after school, I will be tempted to say seriously, these courses of music and Latin were useless; I thought.
I wish they had taught us something useful. Not like music is useless, after all my lessons in Latin conjugation and solfa notations makes me feel good about myself. One good thing is that Latin helped me to know the root meaning of words. But I would have preferred it was replaced.
I can remember quite well how people in the days traveled abroad for studies to Europe and America but it’s surprising that instead of restructuring the syllabus to adding courses like information Technology as a full course, nothing happened.
I am aware no knowledge is useless but for some reason we can become short sighted of what the future is and not realize latest trends in education and this can lead us to not providing a smart environment for our children to acquire the right skills. Even though many of us have dreams, there are some skills that without you acquiring those skills your dreams can become more competitive when you finally get there. As a pupil one of the common orientations coming out now or I can say it is leading is STEM Education and many schools, companies, Nonprofits are seeing a need for the younger generation to be equipped with the right skills that are preparing them for the big Revolution happening.
The truth is that if you do not have these skills, you will come back to them sometime later and at a time your mind is already getting tired to accommodate material.
Organizations are running bootcamps and training and it’s all about building skills. This is also because with a skill you can have a side job while still being able to make money from your actual job.
Technology is giving you an upper hand when It comes to hiring managers even though these skills are not what is directly needed but being armed with them leverages the company spending.
I read the story of Richard Apiah Akoto, the Ghanaian ICT teacher who took the bull by the horns to draw Microsoft processing on the board even without the necessary tools but that story was inspiring and that gave us a lesson that teaching is not just about a job but a vocation. That method which he used was actually going to stick in the minds of his students. Come to think of how a student of learning will go to bed with that imagination and can write an exam and then think of what will happen if this same student got the opportunity to actually utilize or work on the actual tool.
Here is our focus of the day, to enhance Technology skills for students, there is a need to outlift the teachers with the best technological resources which will further better interaction between teachers and students in the process of learning. This means that it is not more time for only students to be educated but if the teacher who teaches English Language or French is not versed with the latest tools then probably, they will not also be able to pass on the knowledge.
So many countries have strict measures in their hiring process for Educators or Teachers and they are expected to be computer savvy, but some other areas of the globe already have this reawakening completed. The use of whiteboard, web connected devices and VR systems are more common than using static boards.
Being an educator or a teacher in class today without prior education in some areas in technology is becoming a problem that needs to be addressed. There is an opportunity for both sides to achieve more than needed what was thought to be impossible in classroom studies. For an educator or teacher to meet up, there is also a need to be amazed by the latest trends in classroom technology and also make an effort to learn how to use some of the digital materials. Because of these, students are leaving school more equipped and ready in decision making than ever before. They are getting into high school and out of high school with sophisticated knowledge which eases career orientation especially at the university/college level. According to LEADS POLL 95% of teachers and 92% of parents have a certainty that the integration of technology into the school curriculum is as important as a head is to the neck. Over the years there has been a success in students’ achievements as a result of this learning of technology.
In as much as we have the means to supply the tools to teachers and students, there will be a problem if the teachers and educators are not versed with these tools to transmit the knowledge quickly.
If you are a teacher or an educator and you are not yet versed with the latest trends, then it is an opportunity for you to adjust and join the bandwagon. You may be lucky that your school or the institution where you are is not yet moving from what I will call analog to digital. This should give you more time to learn quickly and build yourself for the revolution taking over.
