Assignment

1. Role of teacher in the digital age

        

          In order to understand the changing role of the teacher in the 21st Century, it is important to consider the historical role of the teacher. For centuries, direct instruction was the pedagogy of the day. The teacher held the position of absolute authoritative power and was the holder, and dispenser, of knowledge. 

         The teacher was the dispenser of knowledge and communication between student and educator was one-way. That model no longer provides the best learning experiences for students. In the digital age, teachers are learning with their students through co-learning and collaboration. These methods form the basis of personalized learning.

         Teachers are re-examining their relationship with curriculum and are moving from a teacher-centred perspective to a student-centred perspective. 

        The importance of a teacher in a student’s life has actually grown in today’s digital era, albeit with a few changes in the style of teaching.

It is now even more crucial to have teachers guiding students in the right direction when there is so much extraneous influence available at their fingertips. Teachers need to present to children, teenagers, and young adults a correct representation of facts and enable them to distinguish between right and wrong.

Internet, no doubt, is the storehouse of tomes of knowledge. However, it is also the source of evil influences and corrupt practices. The role of the internet in educating students always needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Internet can always be used as a helpful complement to our existing education system but never take on the role of a teacher.

That said, we should not rule out the usefulness of technology in education today. This motivates them to become teachers of the future.

With technology, teachers can make learning more fun and absorbing. Various scenarios can be created to accurately represent what is being taught in class. Students can easily get a holistic picture of how their lessons are used in daily life through the use of technology. This improves engagement and knowledge retention in classrooms.

Teachers can reach far-off places and educate students that are unable to travel by using advances in technology. Online tools can be used to finish assignments and generate group discussions. This fosters collaboration and cooperation among students and teachers in a virtual learning environment.

Further, technology empowers teachers with a plethora of online apps, tools, and techniques. Recent advances in all subjects are readily available on the internet. Simulated online classroom sessions help teachers hone their micro-teaching skills thus, enabling them to perform better in regular classes.

The style of teaching has definitely changed. However, what has remained constant is the need for a good teacher, someone who can give students a strong foundation and infallible character. The internet can only give us bits and pieces of information. A teacher can take this information, make a coherent piece out of it, and present it in a way that the child will understand.

And that is why the importance of a teacher in a student’s life will never diminish. It can only become better with the aid of technology.

2. Synchronous and asynchronous e-learning

       Synchronous learning refers to a learning event in which a group of students are engaging in learning at the same time. Before learning technology allowed for synchronous learning environments, most online education took place through asynchronous learning methods. Since synchronous tools that can be used for education have become available, many people are turning to them as a way to help decrease the challenges associated with transactional distance that occurs in online education. 

                While many online educational programs started out as and with the advent of web conferencing tools, people can learn at the same time in different places as well. For example, use of instant messaging or live chat, webinars and video conferencing allow for students and teachers to collaborate and learn in real time.

         Asynchronous learning is a general term used to describe forms of education, instruction, and learning that do not occur in the same place or at the same time. It uses resources that facilitate information sharing outside the constraints of time and place among a network of people. In many instances, well-constructed asynchronous learning is based on constructivist theory, a student-centered approach that emphasizes the importance of peer-to-peer interactions. This approach combines self-study with asynchronous interactions to promote learning, and it can be used to facilitate learning in traditional on-campus education, distance education, and continuing education. This combined network of learners and the electronic network in which they communicate are referred to as an asynchronous learning network.

                 Online learning resources that can be used to support asynchronous learning include email, electronic mailing lists, threaded conferencing systems, online discussion boards, wikis, and blogs. Course management systems have been developed to support online interaction, allowing users to organize discussions, post and reply to messages, and upload and access multimedia.These asynchronous forms of communication are sometimes supplemented with synchronous components, including text and voice chat, telephone conversations, videoconferencing, and even meetings in virtual spaces such as Second Life, where discussions can be facilitated among groups of students