Teachers' role in

the classroom
changes in the new
digital world.
ICT is both the reason for students for it.
change and means for
achieving it, effecting What many of us have begun to
communication and experience is a shift from the old
paradigm of teaching to a new
learning. What then, does
one. This shift from old to new is
this mean for teachers' role
significant and as teachers we
in the classroom of the should have an understanding of
future? the record of education. As it
would be beneficial to know we
By Bec McLeod
where we have come from in
education and where we are
We as teachers are no longer the
going.
highest power in the classroom.
This may seem a bold statement
In the past, schools prepared
to make, but with the advent of
students for involvement in
the new web technologies such
systems based on mass
as email, Internet, mobile
production in the industrial era
phones, social networking sites,
(Slaughter, 1999). Training
bogs, and video-conferences, our
people to be resourceful
very identity as this ‘highest
contributors in an industry-
power’ is being challenged.
based economy was the
Technology needs to become
underlying reason for education,
part of our teaching identity if
resulting in pedagogies of
we are to teach for the new
transmission which means
digital world and equip our
teachers dictating and students’
sitting there and memorising
facts and numbers and
regurgitating them for tests. This
curriculum was designed to
pump out good test scores,
constantly testing and measuring
students’ memorization. The
purpose of this curriculum was
to enable the school to score
well, rather than teach the
students. This being said, now
we must recognise that students’
learning doesn’t only take place
in the classroom, it happens at
home, in the community and
online. Education should provide
a connection between learning
at school and learning in life
outside school. However, at the
moment education and teachers
are at a point somewhere
between these two, we are in
limbo between the past and
future of teaching (Slaughter,
1999).
Technological advances have
opened up a new world of
connections. What this means
for us as teachers is new
communication possibilities for
schools, such as email, Internet,
mobile phones, social
networking sites, bogs, and
video-conferences.
Communication advancements
allow us to extend beyond the
previously closed culture of
schools. This means that
educators can now teach in more
authentic ways such as language
learning connecting with current
cultural real- life input, beyond
the constraints of an immediate
social environment. Given that
ICT provides students with a
means to communicate and also
empowers them with control of
their communication. Therefore,
the relationship between us as
teachers and our students
changes (Jennkins, 1999). For
example on-line communication
inevitably gives control to the
user (Jennkins, 1999). this may
well mean the students rather
then their teachers. In ICT-
embraced classrooms we as
teachers may no longer have
absolute control over what
happens and we could
essentially loose the authority
figure the past teaching
community has worked so hard
to achieve. Rather, the
educator’s role is now to be a
leader, helper, model, facilitator
and evaluator (Miriam, 2001).
For our students, once the basic
mechanics of the new
technology that will correspond
to their classrooms are
mastered, ICTs will provide the
resources that help them with
their schoolwork at home and at
school instead of always relying
on their teachers or parents. I
am sure many of you have
noticed the same thing Miriam
has in your classrooms when
students are working with ICTs
they tend to work collaboratively
either in groups or others over
the internet (Miriam, 2001). As
many of us may have already
observed, collaborative learning
can stimulate students to
develop some of the
interpersonal skills needed for
life after school. We must
become facilitators of learning
organizing teamwork, teaching
how to use technology
affectively, managing classroom
activity and evaluating students
work and skills. The sole
repository of information and
knowledge in the classroom is no
longer the teacher, and we as
teachers must recognize this.
Our job is to facilitate students
learning in a way that will enable
them to successfully face the
future. The knowledge-based
learning of traditional schools is
no longer enough to enable our
students to contribute to society
in the future. This demands a
shift in our conceptions of the
curriculum. In the search for new
pedagogies and curricular
one framework (for educational
reform for the new
environment) was proposed by
the International Commission on
Education, to teachers
everywhere (Jacques, 1996). This
framework for learning is based
around four main points:
 Learning to know: meaning
basically learning to learn.
 Learning to do: in other words
learning skills to deal with
different situations and work
collaboratively.
 Learning to live together:
illustrates the importance of
relationships with family and
community including the
global community
 Learning to be: is to do with
one's individual potential.
The essential idea that concerns
us is the introduction of a
balance between skills for
discovering, accessing,
evaluating, and applying,
creating new knowledge and
learning how to learn.
The barriers to these changes,
however, are significant. Chief
among these barriers are
resources and technical
expertise. Resources are
necessary. Without them the
inclusion of ICT and new
teaching and learning becomes
almost impossible. In particular
shortage of computers, cost, and
availability of internet
connection can be a problem for
schools in lower socioeconomic
regions. Another difficulty is in
the transformation of teaching
mindset, as Jennkins points out
"The challenge of integrating
technology into schools and
classrooms is much more human
that it is technological"
The 5 main changes for us as
teachers in the digital
classroom:
1.ICT integration means significant
changes in the teacher's role
2.Change in student teacher
relationship
3.The modification of the teachers'
role to facilitate and manage
students to support learning
4.Change in the content and
capacity of teaching
5.A shift in control from teacher to
learner
(Jennkins, 1999).
No matter how much technology
and opportunities are provided
for teachers we can only move
forward when our mentality as
teachers matches the shift into
the digital era. The difficulty we
will face as educators is in the
resources available to us, and
our mindset (Jennkins, 1999).
However, as technology
becomes ubiquitous in homes
and communities, one would
think it is unavoidable that
educational facilities and
governments will recognise the
need for education in ICT.
Therefore, the need for funding
and resources is acknowledged
as a necessity for us to teach
successfully in the classrooms of
the very near future.
It has become apparent that as
teachers of tomorrow we will
need to develop a new approach
to what it means to teach and
what it means to learn. As we
know ICT can be tool of great
value.
Nevertheless, its effectiveness
requires us to have a knowledge
and understanding of specific
skills and applications. These
skills will enable us as the
teacher to know how to use and
keep up with technology that no
doubt will continue to develop
almost as fast as we can learn
them. This being said, technical
know-how is only part of the
competence we should have.
Effective use of ICT is conditional
to our attitudes and approaches
to teaching and learning. So now
we have created a new
understanding of what a
teachers' mentality must evolve,
that is "to seek to inspire,
support and facilitate learning,
to create an environment
conducive to
learning"(Jennkins,1999).  We
should embrace ICT and
recognise it as the means that
stimulated our new ways of
thinking about teaching and
learning, and transformed role of
the teacher.
References

Prof. Richard Slaughter (1999) Re-Designing Education Systems for

the Future Retrieved 17/7/2010 from:
http://www.ais.sa.edu.au/resources/Re-Designing%20Education
%20Systems.pdf

Janet M Jenkins. (1999) TEACHING FOR TOMORROW THE

CHANGING ROLE OF TEACHERS IN THE CONNECTED CLASSROOM.
Retrieved 18/7/2010 from: http://www.eden-
online.org/papers/jenkins.pdf

Ben-Peretz, Miriam (1/1/2001) Journal of Teacher Education: THE

IMPOSSIBLE ROLE OF TEACHER EDUCATORS IN A CHANGING
WORLD. Retrieved 17/7/2010 from:
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-
69200061/impossible-role-teacher-educators.html

Delors, Jacques et al (1996) Learning: the treasure within Report to

UNESCO of the

International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century,

Paris, UNESCO, p37

Pictures

Greater London Council. (1900). Ashford Residential School. Retrieved

24/7/2010 from: www.rupert.id.au/tutorials/free-images/index.php

(2006) The Apple K-12 IT Road Show retrieved 24/7/2010 from

edseminars.apple.com/.../event.php?eventID=11