The Future of Teaching: Steps Teachers Might Follow as They Design Learning Experiences

As the slideshow in one of my previous posts indicates, the future of teaching and learning means that teachers are designers of learning experiences. This post is an excerpt from my book, Educational Technology for Teachers. As teachers design learning experiences using available learning resources, they might follow a process like the one presented here.

1. The teacher starts out by determining the student’s individual learning needs using her own observations and any available pre-assessment data.
2. The teacher seeks out learning resources that are appropriate to the student’s learning needs. To find these resources, the teacher could search in a variety of places including personal collections, libraries, databases, app stores and Internet search engines. A variety of media formats can be used including text, audio, video, animation and multimedia.
3. When the teacher has found appropriate learning resources, she gives her student access to these resources along with detailed instructions telling the student what to do with the resources.
4. The student has the responsibility to follow instructions and learn from the learning resources. While the student is learning, the teacher moves on to help other students, but she is available to answer any questions.
5. When the student is finished learning, the teacher assesses how well she learned. If the student has adequately learned the subject, she will move on to other learning experiences and resources as directed by the teacher.

This model allows for differentiation of instruction because each student can work on learning resources appropriate to his or her needs. Central to the idea of designing learning experiences is the existence of quality learning resources for students and teachers to use in the learning process. Prior to the Information Age, learning resources were scarcely available, but now there are abundant learning resources for use in education. Teachers should know how to find, evaluate and suggest relevant learning resources for students.

Not only should teachers be able to seek out and use information and learning resources, but students should also learn information literacy skills including finding, evaluating and using relevant information to complete papers, projects and presentations. Information literacy is an important part of the 21st century skills and ISTE national educational technology standards. Do you follow any of these steps as you design learning experiences for your own students?

The Future of Teaching and Learning in the Information Age - In a Nutshell

I have given a lot of attention to the future of teaching and learning on this blog in posts such as: Is information presentation part of the future of teaching, Is grading a part of the future of teaching, and
The future of teaching and learning - Designing learning experiences. I thought that I could sum up all of these concepts in one slideshow that helps envision what the future of teaching and learning would look like in day to day classroom interactions. This slideshow is also a part of my book, Educational Technology for Teachers. It shows what the classroom of the future might look like as teachers become designers of learning experiences:

Are you doing this in your own classroom? If not, what is stopping you from moving toward the future of teaching and learning?

The Future of Teaching and Learning - Designing Learning Experiences

In past posts, I discussed the future of teaching and learning and whether grading and information presentation (lecture) would be a part of it. Both of these activities will decline in the future, but there is one activity that is sure to be a part of the future of teaching and learning. In the future, teachers will likely spend much time designing learning experiences. Designing learning experiences is what teachers do when they begin to think about instructional strategies within the larger picture of the full days and weeks of the classroom. A teacher who designs learning experiences sees herself not only as a presenter of information, but as one who can make use of all possible learning resources and methods including one-on-one instruction from the teacher, information presentation from the teacher, information resources from the Internet, computer applications, and more. Most of this article is an excerpt from my book, Educational Technology for Teachers. 

As a designer of learning experiences, the teacher takes advantage of all aspects of the Information Age. The teacher acts as a seeker and evaluator of resources, finding accurate information and resources in formats that are developmentally appropriate and that match student needs (Aslan & Reigeluth, 2013; Reigeluth, 2011). In cases where appropriate resources are not available, the teacher might also act as a creator of resources from which students can learn. The teacher works with individual students to choose appropriate learning resources for each student, or she may design a project for the student to complete using the resources. Then the student takes personal responsibility to learn from the resources and make any necessary adjustments in consultation with the teacher. In this approach, the teacher spends more time working individually with each student and less time presenting information to the whole class. This process is also student centered because the student plays an active role in the learning experience.

This model, in which teachers become designers of learning experiences, allows for differentiation of instruction. In this approach, all students can reach mastery of the learning material, but not all students reach mastery at the same time (Reigeluth, 2011; Reigeluth & Garfinkle, 1994). Students learn a variety of skills critical for the Information Age when teachers design learning experiences, including information, media and technology skills; initiative and self-direction; and productivity and accountability. 

Seeing yourself as a designer of learning experiences makes your job as a teacher more enjoyable, more important and more effective. This approach to teaching and learning represents the way that we should teach because of the characteristics of the Information Age society in which we live. As access to and the amount of information continues to grow, teachers will increasingly see themselves as designers of learning experiences (Aslan & Reigeluth, 2013; Duffy, 2009).

References:

Aslan, S., & Reigeluth, C. M. (2013). Educational technologists: Leading change for a new paradigm of education. TechTrends, 57(5), 18–24. doi:10.1007/s11528-013-0687-4

Duffy, F. (2009). The need for systemic transformation change in school districts (part 1). Rice Connexions. Retrieved November 26, 2013, from http://cnx.org/content/m19579/1.4/

Reigeluth, C. M. (2011). FutureMinds committee meeting. Presented at the Association for Educational Communications and Technology International Convention, Jacksonville, FL.

Reigeluth, Charles M., & Garfinkle, R. J. (1994). Systemic Change in Education. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.

Is Grading a Part of the Future of Teaching?

In this post, we'll consider whether the teacher of the future will do more or less grading. In a previous post, I discussed whether information presentation activities will be a part of the future of teaching. These posts are excerpts from my book, Educational Technology for Teachers. 

Now, on to grading. Many of the tools and applications that computers provide help teachers to be more efficient in their grading processes. A teacher can use a spreadsheet application to allow for quick grading and automation of scoring processes. Many school districts have adopted student information systems that help teachers quickly report grades to school administrators and share grades with parents online. Student information systems such as Powerschool and Infinite Campus support easy sharing of grades and information to faculty and parents. 

Going beyond technologies that simply allow teachers to be more efficient in their grading, there are also applications and programs that can automate the grading process itself. For example, some software applications such as SMART Response and Socrative can be set up to gather student responses to classroom activities. In some systems, student responses can be combined automatically in a grade book with no additional work required from the teacher. Learning management systems like Moodle and MyBigCampus support online courses with automatic grading features. As these grading applications become more and more ubiquitous, it is safe to assume that the teacher of the future will spend less time grading than teachers do today. I don't think that many teachers will miss doing more grading!