Recently, a thought provoking article by Harman Singh, CEO of WiZiQ was published by Education World. He touched on various aspects including the problem of revising yesterdays lecture again today.
“Each day, I come to work, ready to equip my kids with what they
need to succeed in college,” say’s Deborah Cruthers, a Pinon Hills,
California, homeschool and private school teacher with interests in the
use of technology for online education. “I begin my day with detailed
lesson plans, a timer, handouts, and activities to bring the subjects I
teach to life. The bell rings and class begins. As I’m getting to work,
I’m excited that student’s hands are already raised. I’m thinking,
‘Wow, they already have questions.’ But to my dismay, the student’s
questions are, ‘Did we do anything important yesterday? What did I
miss?’ I remind them that they need to check the lesson plans online,
refer to the wall where I have detailed the week’s assignments, and
pick up the handouts in their class box. However, they still need
explanations of what they missed and I start losing some of the great
energy I arrived with. After six periods and more than 20 students
asking the same questions about what happened, I become a little
discouraged by all of the lost teaching time spent catching them up.”
That story isn’t too positive, but what if teachers could easily refer
students to a pre-recorded session of the missed class. When students
aren’t able to stay after school or during breaks for explanations the
teacher can’t provide during class, wouldn’t it be great if they could
meet the teacher live online? By extending education time, online
technology opens a whole new realm of possibility for teachers and
students.
When teachers direct students to an online classroom platform where
they can view the lesson from previous days via a recording, and also
view PowerPoint presentations with detailed assignment instructions,
much can be accomplished without interrupting class or office time. In
addition, teachers can make handouts available for students through a
content-management system.
He also touched on using the technology for Staff Meetings, making them more cost effective.
Teacher in-service sessions, for example, occur when students are not
in school. What if teacher in-service meetings could be conducted
online -- with teachers attending from home via an online classroom
platform? By applying that technology, educational institutions would
not have to use campus resources. Schools would slash energy and travel
costs as well as valuable administrative and facility resources. Doing
the math on potential time and energy savings associated with online
meetings clearly points to the immediate economic value of applying the
technology. It takes very little imagination to calculate the enormous
gasoline savings alone that could accrue if travel to even a few
meetings per year were reduced by applying virtual capabilities.
And finally, the importance of using technology and online tools for a more green and clean future.
Schools at every level are actively involved in making students more
aware of the global environment and the effects of human activities.
Specifically, educators are constantly trying to find ways to teach
children how they can do their part in the effort for a cleaner,
healthier environment. When people in schools use less energy by
effectively using technology, they can have a huge cumulative effect in
conserving energy, fuel, and perhaps most importantly, time for
effective teaching.
You can read the full article on Education World.
