Today, I watched video called Shift Happens. I found it hard to watch actually: a slightly-too-fast-paced slide slow of "Did You Know?" facts about how the world is not the same as it was a few years ago, set to very distracting music. The video focused on the population changes and technological changes that have happened recently--just the sort of things that would spark my boyfriend's interest.
For me though, the most interesting fact presented by the video was this: "There are over 12 billion Google searches performed each month." The video then followed up this fact with a question that really struck me:
"To whom were these questions addressed before Google???"
As an aspiring educator, I can't help but think that many of these questions were previously asked of teachers before the internet age! This idea made me feel sad and at a loss for how I can impact students in a relevant way when Google seems to have a corner on my job.
But then I watched another video, this one called A Vision of 21st Century Teachers. This is a very encouraging video for any teacher who is feeling dwarfed by technology. The simple video style and friendly faces calmed me down at once, reminding me that yes, technology has a huge impact on us all nowadays, but teachers still have a big role to play!
Teachers can use tech in the classroom in so many different ways--which means that no creativity is lost on our part! It's up to us to not only utilize technology as a learning tool to teach other materials, but in doing so we may also shape how students view and use technology throughout the rest of their lives.
So whether you're the type of person who relishes at the thought of change or someone who is a little less ready to jump into a new world, rest assured that as a teacher you will always have a massively important job to do.
