I listened to my colleague screaming “put away your phone or I will take them”. I wondered is technology a blessing or a curse in our classrooms. I see students in a love relationship with their phones. I wonder, what should be my response.
Considering the widespread influence of technology, the objective is no longer how to teach children to use technology but how to use technology to best teach students -Dr Tunji Olaopa (2013). How do we effectively support this digital generation? How can practitioners change and re-invent themselves so that they are well positioned to teach this generation of students?
The truth is technology has come to stay and it is up to the teacher to ensure that it is a blessing and not a curse. Students can be guided on how to use it to research. It can be used to conduct assessments. It is an absolute treasure that just needs to be well utilised. However, my question remains as the teacher are you willing to learn a few new tricks so that you can make sure technology works for you and not against you? Check out our blended learning courses today and learn how to give an assignment the attributes of gaming, making it competitive, fun, exciting, challenging using their phone as the tool.
“The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to change”
Carl Rogers