In the 21st century education is going through transformation in the sense that educational authorities are constantly thinking of moving away from the bricks and mortar classroom to a virtual classroom which makes use of the internet and other devices to help students learn at their own pace. This transformation has brought a myriad of debates on the educational front and one of such debates is the teacher's role in this virtual class.In the industrial age or the brick and mortar classroom, the teacher is or was the complete manager of what goes into the education of the students. He analyses, plans, execute the plan and evaluates his plans as well. The question is would there be or is there a change in the role of the teacher? Is the 21st century teacher a manager or a mentor.I perfectly agree with Tony Jones in his blog on this very topic on Sunday 28th august, 2011, that the online courses are gaining acceptance in traditional higher learning institutions. In this regard, the teacher's role as the fount of knowledge and the all-in-all must change to both a manager and a mentor at the same time. The teacher should be in a position to manager a virtual classroom with all the skills he/she can gather and at the same time guiding learners through a collaborative effort to attain academic success. keegan, 1986 stated that 'in evaluating learners, the teacher in the conventional classroom determines the criteria of successful learning and the learner is compelled either with fear, apathy and courtesy. But in the open and distance learning environment, the learner assumes a high degree of autonomy that might be uncomfortable in other educational activities'. This obviously indicates that as we advance into the era of open and distance learning environment, our learners must determine their own mode of individual learning. The teachers role should be a guide, motivator and a facilitator of learning outcome but not someone who takes the centre stage. The teacher should be in position to direct learners to places where they can source for informations and also recognise other discoveries that learners may bring and help them to make meaningful use of such materials.
TEACHERS AS MENTORS OR AS MANAGERS
In my earlier submission on the topic, I indicated that the role of the teacher in the 21st century must change to reflect the changes at the education front. It is my aim to reiterate this point further by looking at my own position as a teacher. The question before us is should the 21st century teacher be a manager or a mentor? Can a teacher manage a virtual classroom effectively?
For purposes of readers who may not be familiar with the term virtual classroom it is simply a class which is handle in the cloud via the internet.
In the virtual classroom the teacher has a role to play. he cannot perpetually leave the students to their faith to decide for themselves. this is why we have learning management systems(LMS) to help teachers manage such classes.
Yes, they have to manage the system some where in time but on a scale of 100%, they have to do 80% to 90% mentorship of the students in this environment. The reason is simple that you cannot be in the classroom all the time. however your presence can be felt through the notifications you send to the students regularly, prompt marking of their assignments, giving of comments and prompt responses to their queries. The 21st century education is largely moving into a virtual classroom so the brick and mortal situation where teachers are all in all- doing everything will be a thing of the past. Some few weeks back in the country the education front witnessed a situation where male teachers of a particular senior high school(SHS) were accussed of having amorous relationship with their female students. Is there a way of minimising such situations in our schools by turning our teachers into tutors? please let me read your comments
5 comments:
This is a nice post which I believe would help to shape the desired role of teachers in the online teaching environment. I want to read your comment on this post
Education is the pivot on which spins all developmental plans, programs and ideas that have evolved from various researches. The role of educators in either the traditional rooms for learning or the newly discovered mode of learning established in various places of learning cannot be under-emphasized or under-stated. Teachers have been cited in most rural communities as playing roles of a pastor, secretary consultant and a mentor. In the recent past, an appointed teacher doubles as a role model, as parents envisage that their wards would enter such a profession.
In the 21st century, the role of teachers has undergone massive transformation as the duties, schedules and activities has gone beyond just teaching. Though they played the role of managers, it depended on the community. With population increase which has also increase the number of prospective learners, the introduction of distance education and e-learning has come in to salvage the situation. Researchers have written papers extensively on distance education and its numerous benefits which include low costs, massive digital resources and a higher number of admission as compared to a traditional classroom.
The role of teachers in the new paradigm shift will be more of mentors, counselors, advisers and educators. Apart from guiding, directing, advising, motivating, teaching and supervising various activities, they would also be managers of the course or program on the internet as some of these distance education and e-learning programs have been structured as software and would does involve the use of learning management systems (LMS). A great demerit in the new paradigm shift will be that teachers would no more be role models and mentors. The new distance education will be technological based, via the internet. The source of the internet services, the cost of the internet service and the tool for learning which must be the computer machine or the smart phone or any computerized device.
Teachers in my view can play the dual role of a mentor as well as a manager. A teacher as a manager should adopt a managerial style that would lead to effective performance of his or her students. Performance of a teacher in this era is judged by the quality of products the teacher is able to produce. Schools acquire their prestige as a result of the good products they churn out and the teachers in those schools take the credit for the performance of students.
The 21st century teacher has to play many managerial roles such as imparting knowledge, skills and shaping attitudes and behaviour of students as well as giving class assignments, tests, exams, marking and recording marks obtained by students. The general perception is that students are passive learners and that the teacher has to adopt a style which would engage their interest in the subject area in order to attract their active participation in the subject area. By so doing, the teacher can be said to be managing the learning situation in the classroom effectively and this produces results.
The use of learning management systems (LMS) as you suggested should be encouraged so that these teachers can better manage their students, while moving away from the brick and mortar classroom to a virtual classroom as you succinctly put it.
Apart from managing, teachers are also mentors. Success stories about prominent people in our society are always told about roles played by either a teacher in a primary or secondary school and their interest in encouraging and counseling these prominent people during their student days. The teacher has always served as mentors in shaping students. I believe these dual roles can be performed harmoniously by teachers to mold and shape students effectively.
The need therefore, for acquiring knowledge of dealing with people, becoming aware of their social and psychological needs, and understanding the dynamics of learning and group interactions is important. Teachers should be desirable learn managerial styles in order to improve on their managerial abilities. The skills and abilities which are thought to increase the effectiveness of managers in other industries could be equally applicable to teachers as managers of learning situations.
Thank you Boadi and Nii Legon, your posts on my subject the teacher as a mentor or manager has given me enough knowledge and courage to continue with this project. The two of you were unanimous about the teacher playing the dual roles as mentors and as managers. This gives me the believe that the teacher's role in the 21st century education cannot be downplayed as some people wants us to believe. You also pointed out that by the use of learning management system (LMS)the teacher can effectively manage their students and the classes they teach. The question of teachers serving as role models is a topic I will tackle in my next post. I invite you to watch out for this. Thank you.
Thank you Boadi and Nii Legon, your posts on my subject the teacher as mentors or managers has given me enough knowledge and courage to continue with this project. The two of you were unanimous about the teacher playing the dual roles as mentors and as managers. This gives me the believe that the teacher's role in the 21st century education cannot be downplayed as some people wants us to believe. You also pointed out that by the use of learning management system (LMS)the teacher can effectively manage their students and the classes they teach. The question of teachers serving as role models is a topic I will tackle in my next post. I invite you to watch out for this. Thank you.
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