Friday, January 21, 2011
What Does a 21st Century Classroom Look Like?
In a 21st century classroom, iPads replace books, clusters of desks replace rows, and the learning becomes student-centered instead of teacher-centered. Blogs and emails replace letters home to parents. Learning becomes project-based, a much more interactive and relevant form of learning than reading and memorizing information out of textbooks. Students research with the Internet and by visiting experts, instead of reading encyclopedias and making notecards of facts. Supplemental curriculum moves online, using engaging video game-like practice to cement skills in a way that children can enjoy. SmartBoards replace chalkboards and overheads. Students learn to type instead of learn to write in cursive. Students tutor each other, rather than the teacher struggling to work one-on-one whenever students have questions or need help.
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I like the idea of learning being something children can enjoy instead of just something boring that you do just because you have to. I think this entry captures that idea pretty well.
ReplyDeleteYou are very right. I didn't think to add the way the desks are arranged and the education is more student-based now, or at least ought to be. The 21st century classroom is more than just technology. It's about methods and practices with the incorporation of technology.
ReplyDeleteFirst I just want to say that you are a very good writer! I like how your paragraph flows. Anyways... I think that your ideas of what the 21st century classroom looks like is extremely accurate. I'm not a person to like major changes, but the education system is changing rapidly. It has changed drastically from when we were in elementary and that wasn't that long ago. Who knows what the future holds. It could be that all of us will be out of jobs, as online schools may florish and replace actual classroom teachers. I will be very sad if this happens, and not just because I would be out of a job, but because I believe that students need that interaction with other children.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kira!
ReplyDeleteI have fears about the future, just as you do.
My advice is to keep going back to school, or workshops, to keep up with the growing use of technology!