In Module 1, there was a link to a video called “A Vision of Today’s Students.” It visualized
what type of students are in the classroom today. Since many of the students are constantly
interacting with technology everywhere EXCEPT the classroom, I hope you saw ways that CALL
could make education more meaningful for today’s students. Let’s take a moment to discuss
education needs today as opposed to in the past.
Education needs are changing faster than education styles. Does that make sense? Do you agree
with that? During the industrial age, workers were expected to learn everything they needed
to know before starting their job. Yes, they would receive some on-the-job training such
as which button to push, where to stack manufactured items, and how to run the machines especially,
but essentially they were expected to be knowledgeable before arriving at work. However, in our current
information age, guess what’s most important. The information and knowing how to find the
information. Workers are expected to “process large amounts of information on the job and
develop the knowledge needed to solve problems or make decisions” (Steven Mills, 2006,
p. 3). It’s not like someone is telling them: “This is how you solve the problem.”
They’re expected to figure it out themselves. It’s no more about what you know; it’s
about what you can find out and what you do with what you discover. More than ever, businesses
are dissatisfied with the new college graduates they hire and find the need to train them
in areas like critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, collaboration, creativity, cultural
understanding and communication using technology.
Take a minute. Think about the education you have received and are receiving.
Are those skills being taught to you? Are they being taught by you? So, if you are currently
a teacher, are you incorporating those skills? I know there are standards, but are there
ways to incorporate creativity, collaboration and problem-solving into the standards.
I’m a big believer that technology is the tool that helps do that. Helps us incorporate
those skills. Helps us introduce our students to the necessary skills for the information
age.
Information in general has been changing. The amount of information available in the
world is increasing at mind-boggling speed. Within the 12 years of traditional schooling,
the amount of information students have available to them will quadruple (Gary Bitter & Melissa
Pierson, 2005, p. 3). There is no way for educators to know everything and sort through
all of the important information, just as there is no way to force learners to memorize
all of that information. I remember there was a big discussion back
about when I was in junior high school because they were changing a lot of our elementary
school textbooks. And a lot of the older generation were upset because George Washington and Abraham
Lincoln no longer had one full, complete page each in the textbook. Now they were limited
to a half a page each. And, probably if you looked in today’s textbook, they’re probably
down to a paragraph each. Well, it makes sense to me. We have so much more information coming
in that we need to make room for it all in the textbooks. Well, not all of it, but we
need to make room in the textbooks. But by the same token, we need to understand that
if I want them to learn more about George Washington or they want to learn more, all
they have to do is put it into Google and do a search on it.
So, we are at a point in our society where it is much more important to know how to search
for information, than it is to have it memorized. Okay. Did you get that? It’s much more important
to know how to search for information than it is to have it memorized. So our jobs as
teachers is helping students learn how to learn. Help students learn how to learn and
that will make them productive members of the workforce for the rest of their lives.
So they won’t have to be worried about being downsized because their job is obsolete, their
job is old.
Language learning that incorporates CALL as a tool and applies the optimal conditions
for language learning and makes learning active instead of passive will prepare our students
for future educational needs.