Internet Delivery - 21st Century Classroom Educational Resources

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kimberly_Stohlman]Kimberly Stohlman

We are now nearly a decade into the 21st Century and we should be getting used to it by now. While we can't yet predict what a classroom will look like in ninety years' time, we should have some idea of what a 21st Century classroom should look like, at least during the first few decades of the century.

Just stop and think how classrooms have changed even over the last twenty years. At the end of the 20th Century (in the 1970s and 1980s), the closest most of us got to having computers in the classroom was a pile of that continuous feed paper with the tear-off sides and obscure figures and code on the back. When computers came in, they were a real novelty, but to use them, you had to go to a special computer lab - laptops were almost as much of a status symbol as a mobile phone. Typing was taught on typewriters (albeit electric ones) and if students wanted a nice font (a word we didn't even use back then) for a project, this involved meticulous copying out of one of those books of lettering using tracing paper and window or squared paper. The 21st Century classroom looks completely different.

In a 21st Century classroom, you'll probably find a laptop or two with a printer and wireless internet. You'll find the computer lab still there, of course, but the equipment has been added to with a webcam and a digital camera, and the computers are able to run much more sophisticated programs.

Now, most teachers in the 21st Century classroom have grasped the idea of using the internet for research. This is pretty much a "given", and has been ever since the internet explosion and the dot.com proliferation. With faster bandwidths and more content being available, this opens up a vast library for use in the classroom - a library of educational tools ranging from worksheets to educational videos. This use of the internet in the classroom is still very valid today, but this is now known as "Web 1.0".

Teachers in the 21st Century classroom need to look at the potential of "Web 2.0". Now, the internet is not just a place to find information; it's also a place where anyone can share information and communicate with each other. This also has great potential for use in classroom.

Here are a few ways that the internet is starting to be used in the 21st Century classroom:

· The class website. The class website can be used to post completed projects for the world to view (or members only, depending on what sort of security you want). Creating the website in the knowledge that it can be viewed by people everywhere is a way of stimulating excellence, and requires a range of skills, from research to writing to graphic design.

· Blogs. These would probably be linked to the class website, but a teacher can post blogs giving inspiring thoughts, reminders about homework and projects due, links to good sites for research, etc.

· Communication with other schools: Students can set up a site where they post pieces of work (e.g. essays or short stories). Other students from other schools around the USA or even further afield can view these and post their own material, as well as offering helpful criticism and suggestions. This doesn't have to be limited to literature: it can also be used for art or science projects.

· Communication around the world: In the 20th Century, the closest you could get to having a visitor from the country you were studying in social studies was probably a film or documentary video - unless you were lucky. In the 21st Century classroom, you can easily get in touch with US troops serving overseas, people in aid agencies, park rangers, senators, etc., and you can ask them questions and find out what you really want to know.

Don't get left behind in the technology revolution. Multimedia is the way to go when presenting lessons. [http://www.schoolvideos.com/expert/7_mistakes]Download these free tools for improving your classroom lessons by using videos more-and more effectively.

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One Way Technology in the Classroom is Transforming Education

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kimberly_Stohlman]Kimberly Stohlman

The British comic writer Terry Pratchett once wrote that you could tell that his office was a paperless office because you could see paper everywhere. Classrooms, like offices, will never be 100% free of papers, but technology in the classroom is making the idea of a "paperless" classroom more feasible. How much easier would your job as a teacher be if you didn't have a multitude of papers (books, black line masters, flash cards, attendance rolls, notes-to-send-home-to-parents, handouts, quiz sheets) to cope with?

Technology in the classroom is becoming more and more extensive. It would be a rare classroom today that doesn't have at least one PC or laptop set up with a good internet connection (possibly even wireless), and nearly every classroom has its own VCR or DVD player (or at least, there's a player that's shared between two or three classrooms, depending on who's using it today). Some classrooms have multiple computers, and some even have data projectors. Certainly, most schools would have a computer lab where each pupil can work individually on a computer.

Society today is becoming more and more computerised, so it is vital that your students don't get left behind and they know how to use digital tools. They'll be using them in the workplace, so they'd better get familiar with technology in the classroom first.

What are some easy ways that you can cut down on the amount of paper that you have floating around your classroom?

· Use a spreadsheet for attendance. Once you've called the roll, you can email the result of who is and isn't here to the secretary, or let him/her access it via the school's intranet.

· Use webquests instead of textbooks for some subjects. If you haven't used them before, a webquest is an online teaching tool that sets your students various tasks that will require online research to be done. The best ones include helpful links to sites that can help in research. You can create your own customised webquests for your class.

· Use computer games instead of flash cards for drilling your students in time tables and spelling words. You can use online computer games or buy software for doing this. One of the better ones for multiplication is Times Attack from multiplication.com, which has the look and feel of a classic dungeon-style first-person-shooter game but provides an intensive drill in times tables.

· Use videos and DVDs instead of textbooks to explain a concept. Videos and DVDs can also take the place of information handouts. Better still, online video clips can be used, and your students have the chance to re-view these as part of their revision.

· In senior grades, it may be possible for students to submit papers and essays online. This prevents the "Well, I'm sure I put that paper on your desk or in your pigeonhole. The wind must have blown it down and the janitor binned it," excuse. If you're worried about plagiarism (which is one of the pitfalls of modern technology in the classroom), then sign up for Copyscape, which will let you see if anybody's created an essay by cutting and pasting.

Don't let the words "technology integration" scare you. It's not as hard as you might think, and you don't have to get a paperless classroom overnight. And if you have used a video in teaching before, then, you have some of the basic skills already. Standard methods for using media in your elementary lessons are still the benchmark for an effective lesson. Technology should be seen as just another tool in your lesson-not the lesson. Check out [http://www.schoolvideos.com/expert/7_mistakes]the free video tutorial to see how your lessons measure up.

The small company I work for is committed to creating quality educational videos for classroom instruction. From the earliest script stages, all subject area content, images, and music are intensely reviewed and selected for meeting appropriate grade level, curriculum objectives and standards for our proprietary productions. The videos we distribute are also screened to meet our high standards.

Teachers in the 21st century classroom will be better educators if they understand how to use multi media in their lessons, if they understand the processes that research has shown to be the most effective for improved student performance, and if they know how to find quality video resources that will enhance their lessons. http://www.schoolvideos.com

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Classroom Technology to Support Teaching

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kimberly_Stohlman]Kimberly Stohlman

When you were going through your teacher training, did you ever wish you could be a fly on the wall in an experienced teacher's classroom so you could see exactly how he/she handled things? You always change the classroom dynamics by introducing a novelty in the form of an observer, so actually visiting a class for real has its disadvantages as well as its advantages. But by using classroom technology, you can be an observer in someone else's class.

Of course, this innovative use of classroom technology doesn't just apply to beginner teachers and trainee teachers. Even more experienced teachers need to upskill and learn new techniques of doing things in class. Again, watching someone else who has done the hard work of developing the new technique is a great way to learn - after all, you probably know how your pupils pick up concepts and techniques by watching them demonstrated on video (if you haven't learned this, you really need to upskill!).

This new development is possible, thanks to a new secure website being set up by a group of Californian educators. This innovation, created by LessonLab, consists of a collection of exemplary lessons by experienced teachers in a real class. Of course, with classroom technology being so common these days, the presence of a Webcam in the classroom is no novelty and the children in the class act like they normally act. The lessons are presented on a split screen, so the viewers can chat online while they watch, and receive answers from an education coach.

Many companies and publishers are interested in this new development. You are probably familiar with books and encyclopedias that are designed to be used in tandem with that most familiar form of classroom technology: the internet. These "internet linked" encyclopedias have now been extended to textbooks, and publishers such as Scholastic Inc. and Pearsons are beginning to produce textbooks linked with exemplary lessons and demonstrations.

You have probably already learned about the different learning styles and how to cater to them in your classroom. And these techniques also have to be remembered by those who teach the teachers. Teachers have their own learning styles, too, and up until now, reading educational journals (and websites and online articles like this one) and listening to presentations at training days have been the main ways of learning about new tools and techniques. Now the visual learners at the front of the classroom are being catered for, as well as the visual learners sitting in the desks.

You may be tempted, when you hear about these exemplary lessons, to just let your class watch the demonstration lesson linked with the textbook so you can both learn at the same time. Don't do this. All videos and all classroom technology has to be used correctly to be effective. Mistakes you don't even know you're making can be impacting your lesson.

Watch this free video (which isn't from LessonLab but does cater to visual learners) for some important information on why and how you should be using school videos and [http://www.schoolvideos.com/expert/7_mistakes]download the expert guide for easy solutions.

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The Need of a Reform on Integrity Education

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Artur_Victoria]Artur Victoria

Over the last 25 years a compelling body of evidence has been accumulated concerning the harm and waste caused by corruption and low levels of public integrity. The sums estimated are vast. The impact fails disproportionately on developing countries and on the poor within these countries. Flows of aid and structural lending remains significant to many developing countries are significant in terms of GNP. Aid and the development it is intended to spur are, however, often caught in a negative relationship, in which aid can fuel negative outcomes through its impact on corruption. It is largely against this background that a civil society and donor movement to counter corruption and establish high levels of public integrity has evolved.

This pro-integrity reform movement has undergone three major phases in its recent history: the first being awareness raising, the second the creation of conventions and international legislative structures and the third, in which we are now situated where implementation and enforcement are the overriding imperatives.

Despite the diligent efforts of many committed people reform successes remain relatively few and far between, either they are relatively distant historically (the changes in Northern Europe one and two hundred years age) or relatively particular as in the cases of Hong Kong and Singapore.

There is widespread uncertainty about whether the way to achieve improvement in public integrity is currently well understood, even if many of the attributes of high levels of corruption are increasingly clear. The historically favored strategy of implementing international 'best practice' has overwhelmingly been a failure.

Implementing public integrity reform is a considerable strategic public management challenge that requires the mobilization of large numbers of skilled people and resources to succeed.

The need for an Education Network is therefore based on these key understandings:

• The benefit of high levels of public integrity has been established though the examination of the consequences of corruption (the failure to maintain high levels of integrity) especially on the most vulnerable countries and populations.

• Currently there is a highly dispersed set of experiences and practices, both in the research and practice domains. A large and relatively unsystematic body of knowledge has been built up. The reliable application of this knowledge in practice remains at an embryonic stage if we are to judge by changes in governance over time.

• Despite the concept of corruption gaining common currency in the popular consciousness of most countries, as never before, it remains striking that within the academic community research and teaching remain dispersed, with very few courses being offered to meet the huge challenge of providing skills to support the pro integrity reform process.

At present much of the knowledge creation and impetus for public sector reform is coming largely from international organizations, be they donors or No Governmental Organizations. These organizations have initiated or provided the knowledge for many of the reforms that have been attempted (World Bank, U4, UN and so forth). This 'supply' model has some strength in that it has been able to develop a high quality of material, and a critical set of methodologies. http://sites.google.com/site/arturvictoriasite/ http://sites.google.com/site/cliptheschoolbeginning/

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The "McDonald's-ization" of Education

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Ben_Carlsen]Ben Carlsen

McDonald's is astoundingly successful at purveying inexpensive fast food of consistently high quality. They have achieved this primarily through standardization and quality control. If you purchase an "Egg McMuffin," or a "Big Mac" at an outlet in Seattle, or Milwaukee, Chicago or Miami, it will be almost exactly the same.

Standardization is increasingly making in-roads into education. Once the realm of diversity (of opinion, thought, approach, teaching technique, classroom styles, etc.) and independence (academic freedom), the higher education classroom is being transformed into a "product" type delivery system. The "products" in this case are the concepts, lesson plans, group exercises, assignments, etc. - indeed, the education itself.

The intent of this transformation is to provide a "standard" high quality student classroom experience within disciplines, and across institutions. With the student being the customer (consumer) of the educational delivery system, we want to make sure he or she is getting the highest possible quality product, and the key to this is "quality control" and standardization.

Instead of the after-the-fact quality control offered through instructor "evaluations," " classroom observations," and the like, the approach introduces a far more intrusive and directive model. Lesson Plans, indeed, entire courses and curricula are loaded into pre-packaged modules, on thumb drives (USB) or onto computers, or servers.

As in the fast food business, manufacturing, or other product producing sectors, the product creation and delivery process is developed to gain the efficiency and effectiveness obtained in industry.

JUST LIKE McDONALD's

Just like McDonald's where the customer can expect to enjoy a standard, high quality product, served in a clean, well-designed environment, the student consumer can expect convenient delivery of the educational product, for his consumption, and enjoyment - "satisfaction guaranteed."

THE PROCESS

First, a product team is assembled. In this case it consists of academic experts, curriculum designers, course writers, technology experts, product representatives, trainers, content specialists, etc. The product development process is based on outcome objectives, i.e., "what do we want the student to know?," "what should he learn during this course?" and "how do we measure that?" This "beginning at the end" philosophy is crucial. It keeps the spotlight on the product, promotes quality, and ultimately, "customer satisfaction."

THE ENTERTAINMET COMPONENT

Gen Y students have different expectations from their predecessors, and are less likely to indulge obsolete or dated instructional methods and techniques. They demand to be engaged.

Instructors are partially selected on their ability to "entertain" as well as "inform." They are expected to be animated, humorous, engaging, and entertaining. They are expected to convey knowledge in convenient, enjoyable, and satisfying, bites.

STEAMLINING THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS

The more standardized the process becomes, the less latitude for the educator, the more prescribed the content, exercises and learning activities are, the more the business managers of the career and "for profit" colleges like it. This concept may, however, benefit the student as it concentrates on a quality, standardized, classroom experience.

IT'S EASIER

Once the instructor has mastered the technology, the whole instructional process is easier under this model. Everything is pre-packaged. No messy development of lesson plans - they're already done - and done well. No thinking about creative learning activities and approaches - they're already there. You could almost do it in your sleep! (if it wasn't for the requirement to be animated and entertaining.)

STUDENT NEEDS

Students in this new education model will be immersed in technology throughout their degree program. This is the world of today, and the future. They will participate and interact with SMARTboards, laptops, WiFi, simulations, business games, remote "clickers," interactive learning, real-world relevant projects, presentations, etc. It's designed to match their learning styles and attention spans It is preeminently designed to prepare them for their careers. Although many students are "comfortable" with technology, fewer are proficient, and fewer yet have an in-depth understanding. The curriculum should help them become more proficient and better prepared for the technology demands of the future business environment. The intensely technological nature of the classroom experience also addresses the various learning styles. The auditory learner will have voice, music, and noise. The visual learner will enjoy the videos, powerpoints, and other visuals. The kinesthetic learner will appreciate the hands on components, especially the SMARTboard.

Student satisfaction is, of course, a primary objective. Education, especially for-profit education, exists to serve the student, while running a business. And, through serving and satisfying the student, ultimately the student will stay in school, graduate, and learn valuable knowledge and skills in the process. These graduates will benefit the business community, and society at large. An advanced society like ours is critically dependent on an educated and productive populous.

EMPLOYER NEEDS

What do employers want and need? The link to employer requirements is a vital one. Businesses need educated workers. They require technologically adroit employees who can meet the demands of a rapidly changing technological environment and a highly competitive situation.

Ours is a productive society. Businesses spend billions of dollars training and re-training their employees. "Business Ready" graduates will be more productive from day one and employers will appreciate this.

HAS EDUCATION COME TO THIS?

Purists would argue that the more traditional approaches are preferable, and that academic freedom is being infringed upon. They would say that instructors should be hired based on their knowledge, quality of education, expertise, research history and contributions to their field. They would undoubtedly prefer to see pure "academicians" and "scholars" in the classroom. However, there is room for an interesting debate here. Is it about the instructor or the student? Obviously, we understand that it's about both, but whose needs take precedence? The answer has to be - THE STUDENT! After all, the whole educational system is in place to meet the needs of the student, and ultimately, society.

Instructors with real-world, practical experience and without techno-phobia will be more adaptable to this new format, and perhaps better equipped to relate to the student.

THE BOTTOM LINE

In education there is always room for a broad range of opinions and approaches. Let's try this new one. It works in business - why not education? This is probably why Career Colleges are embracing the approach much more readily than their mainstream counterparts. The "for-profit" Career Colleges are definitely the forefront of this initiative, and "early adopters."

We all know that "quality " is an issue in education. Graduates with virtually identical credentials can have vastly different skills, knowledge, and abilities. This is, and always has been a concern. This standardized, quality-assured model addresses that issue.

Sure, this educational model is controversial, as it should be! But the end result may very well be that students have a reasonably similar experience, learn comparable skills, and become better "fits" within the business world. Employers can be better assured and confident that graduates have the knowledge and skill base they require to be successful contributors. They will probably, at some point, wish to be full participants in the curriculum development process. In the globally competitive market, this might just be what is needed.

When we're teaching Business we must be business-minded. Let's transfer those "best practices" from the business world to academia, keep our students involved, and better prepare them for their future careers. And, the lessons to be learned from places like McDonald's may be more applicable to education than we might have ever imagined.

Copyright ©, 2009, Dr. Ben A. Carlsen, MBA. All Rights Reserved Worldwide for all Media. You may reprint this article in your ezine, newsletter, newspaper, magazine, website, etc. as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, leave my name and bio box intact, and you follow all of the EzineArticles Terms of Service for Publishers.

Ben A. Carlsen, Ed.D, MBA, is an experienced CEO and manager. Dr. Carlsen has over 30 years experience in management, consulting, and teaching. Currently the Head of the Business Department at Everest Institute, Hialeah, FL., he was Chairman of the Los Angeles County Productivity Managers Network and President of the Association for Systems Management (So. Calif. Chapter). Additional information can be obtained at http://drben.info

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