We are edging closer to year 2025. What that means? The generation X (those born in 1969 to 1982) would become grandparents. The way grandparents and their grandkids communicate has changed. Generation X has encountered turbulent changes in technology and communication tools. They didn’t mind at all, actually. Many teachers in Indonesia were born in those years also. Growing up listening to Guns N Roses, Chicago, Vina Panduwinata, or Karimata, and in the same time witnessing the transition from cassette to CDs, CDs to MP3 Player.
Technology is the “it” thing these days. However, in some way, the ways teachers communicate with their students experienced little changes. Could we continue the same teaching technique, while students these days are doing dozen of things in one same moment with different mediums?
In the past, there would be 48 students in one A-1 classroom in a public senior high school (SMA). Conventionally, students sat and listened to their teacher who used only textbooks, blackboard, handouts, and white chalk.
In the past, children should be very imaginative to grasp and understand one process. Basically, children understood stuff from pictures, TV, videos, and books. Some were lucky enough to have field trips to comprehend a bit about natural science and cultures in the museum or zoos. To fill in the blanks, teachers and students created collage of some pictures and scrap papers to create the cycle of “Photosynthesis”.
Nowadays, communication style has changed, thanks to the technology. Entering the new millineum, projector was a hpye, especially in general meetings and events. Projector and speakers basically were barely used in the schools, even in Jakarta. Generally speaking, teachers felt a bit reluctant to maximize the usage of that medium, eventhough it would create a different dynamic in the classroom.
Today is year 2013. Teachers should have a new educational approach approach to facilitate their students learning needs inside or outside classroom.
With more students having more interest on computer (thus they own notebooks, android based communicator or tablets), and wifi is available almost in every school or public places, teachers and parents should be able to create projects and activities that are related to some subjects and interests in which their kids are interested in.
Students read more with various mediums such as books, journals, magazines, blogs, facebook, twitter, Wikipedia, and hundreds of other sites created by their friends, movie star, icons, strangers, teachers, etc.
They also now do parts of their homeworks or tests on their notebook and send them online to their teacher. We could also see that students now can exchange information live on Youtube or Skype with other students from other schools, towns, or countries. Thanks to all these technologies, students learn English faster and English as the number one international language has cemented its status stronger than ever.
However, students still love the conventional method, read books, and doing homework or reports on papers. Parents and teachers should be able to grasp and combine various learning methods that fit to certain situation and rythm.
A pack of 32 students in one classroom should be treated differently, but also teachers could impose the same rules. Students may develop various skills, and teachers should be able to identify them, thus students could learn one step at the time. Combining conventional method and technology is a challenging, yet interesting.
Each student is special and each one of them has their own unique identity, passion, hobby, and skill. They want to be heard, noticed, and listened. Teachers, with good skill of presentation skill, PowerPoint, blogging, effective students’ assessment reports and classroom management, in addition to expansive knowledge of the subject matte, a good listener and advisor, would become a favorite teacher. Creativity is not enough. But able to adapt to lifestyle changes and stay true to the basic pedagogy skill and used other basic tools such as books, collages, etc, every educator together with the students could explore new things objectively. (erlass dphst12)