Three Ts of Teaching

Teaching requires learning. Faculty must continue to be learners in their disciplines to remain current with the latest findings. It has traditionally been expected that teachers be lifelong learners in their academic specialty. So the first T of teaching is having knowledge of the Topic being taught. But being an expert on a particular subject is no longer considered enough to be an effective teacher.

The second T of teaching expertise is Teaching. Faculty must extend their learning curve to include developments in teaching methodologies. There has been increasing emphasis on the scholarship of teaching and learning. Reliance on lecture as the sole methodology used to teach is becoming increasingly unacceptable. Teachers are having to become familiar with active learning, integrated learning, accelerated learning, action learning, constructivist classrooms, learner-centered teaching, transformative learning, mentoring, service learning, alternative assessment, neurobiological learning, cooperative learning, interactive lecture, emotional intelligence, multiple intelligences, learning styles, teaching styles, constructive-developmental pedagogy, andragogy, self-authorship, self-directed learning, integral learning (yes, this is different from integrated learning mentioned earlier in this list), collaborative learning, multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, etc., etc., etc. It’s enough to make a teacher’s head spin. Now it is not enough to research one’s topic, a teacher must also study the latest developments in how to deliver that scholarly knowledge to students.

But wait! There is a third T—Technology. Teachers must now become adept in the use of computers, digital cameras, instant messaging, blogs, podcasts, videocasts, course-casting, screen-casting, fly-casting (woops, wrong blog), RSS feed, wikis, social bookmarking, aggregators, alligators (sorry, wrong blog again), URL, Furl (ready to hurl yet?), digital, virtual, links, blinks and a whole lot more I don’t have a clue about. And you thought you were doing well having figured out PowerPoint and Blackboard. The use of technology in teaching is not about merely adding flash (no, I’m not using this word in the techie sense) to your courses. Technology shapes how we think, learn, and relate. To prepare students for today’s world we must use the tools of today. We would not find a buggy whip useful in driving a car. Likewise, we must employ more than textbooks and chalkboards to convey information to our students.

The upshot of all this is that faculty must pursue three tracks of learning. If we are to serve our students well as teachers, we need to commit to keeping abreast with our disciplines, with the methodologies to engage our students with those disciplines, and with the tools to communicate subject matter to our students. The mantra for today’s professional teacher is, “learning, learning, learning.” Learning about our topic; learning about teaching, learning about technology. That should keep us all busy. Happy learning.

I Have Seen The Light!

I am no techie. (I am not even sure I spelled the word correctly.) I am definitely not an early adopter. I bought my first computer in 1993 and didn’t get my next one until twelve years later. I once had to call the manufacturer with a tech question about my old computer and they had to search for some old guy (age 30?) in some back office who could figure out what I was talking about. I have no cell phone (I tried it but gave it up years ago), no iPod, no digital camera. I am not totally clueless, though, when it comes to technology. I do use email, search the internet, have a website, keep discovering more features of Blackboard, and I am blogging. I have been guilty, however, of lamenting over the inevitable downfall of civilization due to young people’s growing obsession with any electronic gadget that can be put to the ear.

But I have come to see the light! I have heard the call! I have gotten the message! All this new technology stuff is here to stay and is going to continue to develop at an ever faster pace. And it is changing the world and us.

My initial breakthrough occurred upon reading The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. That book opened my eyes to how developments in technology are shaping the global economy and societal relationships. My latest revelation struck as I read Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson. What Richardson helped me see is how technology is reshaping how we think and the implications for education. I will explore in future entries what I discovered from my reading of Richardson. In the meantime, I recommend you read the book.

What I want to write about now is my concern. I am worried. I am worried about our students, our colleges, and our nation. I am concerned that we are preparing our students for a world that no longer exists. Current technological developments demand that we transform our paradigms of teaching, learning, literacy, working, writing, creating. If we want to serve our students, if we want our colleges to thrive, if we want America to remain vibrant, we all need to think in new ways. I am not talking about simply learning skills to use new technologies. We need to become aware of how those technologies are shaping how we think, learn, and interact. Without this awareness, we will unknowingly become victims of progress. I would rather we be in a position to take part in leading that progress.