Teachers are Learners
I’ve been thinking about being a lifelong learner for a while. Attending ISTEK ELT in March and IATEFL in April reminded me that teachers are learners too or I think teachers should be learners too.
One of the challenges of a 21st century teacher is integrating technology into the lessons. Well, technology is a scary word and because of its threatening image, ignoring technology won’t help anybody. Will we be replaced by technology? Will mobile learning be the future of schools? Will schools be institutions which will just prepare certificates?
I don’t know. I guess we still have some time to be replaced by technology but I guess the ones who resist using the technology should be replaced by the ones who integrate what’s new to her teaching and I believe there are really great teachers who are enthusiastic, eager and motivated to learn. These teachers are not only the young ones. There are many old and experienced teachers and I saw them at the conferences I attended. This reminded me something my mother-in-law says, ‘When work finishes, life finishes’ and I want to adapt it to our situation, ‘When learning ends, teaching ends.’
Teacher need to develop and improve every day. They need to get acquinted with technology around them. Teachers need to say that they do not know everything otherwise they need to stop learning and searching for knowlegde, etc
From my point of view, it’s essential for teachers to be a model for their students in regards to being open for new things. This kind of authenticity seems to be very important in motivating our students. And – it seems to be hard very often to motivate teachers.
So, does this mean you’re becoming a moodler afterall?
😉 Karin
PS! I hoe I’m not one of the “old” teachers you’re referring to .. hehe
Dear Karin,
Moodle is definitely in my ‘to do’ list for summer so I’ll choose to start next year and I’m lucky because I have a moodle expert friend whom I can rely on 🙂