Real-Time Communication And Traditional Methods Of Communication In The 21st Century

Cathy N. Davidson suggests an innovative education system, providing an emphasis in today’s digital era, and claiming that the existing education system needs to be renewed according to the new expectations of the digital era. Davidson states that,” In the last half century, many changes have occurred in the technology field, however, classrooms and educational methods have remained fairly steady for the past years as well in consequence students are not being prepared for the future advances of society.” That being said, it is important to improve and to give a change to the current educational methods, adjusting them to the existing demands of the era that we are living and taking advantage of the resources that it provides. “What if we continued to the lesson of internet itself,

Technology has many attributes and applications that improve livelihoods. As a student myself, one of the most obvious advancements is in the field of education. Educational technology has slowly been integrated into classrooms over the last decade. Today, the basis of technology, digital literacy, is a crucial skill for academics. “Students who are digitally literate know how to effectively use technology to collaborate, create original content, and conduct in-depth research for academic purposes” (Dotterer, “Fostering Digital Citizenship In The Classroom”). Some worry that the use of technology will encourage people to “cease to exercise their memory and become forgetful” (qtd. In Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”).

We are currently living in a digital age where our students are notably technologically proficient. This poses a challenge with how some of our students are currently learning (or trying to learn) in our classrooms. Many students have grown tired of reading dense texts for homework assignments and tired of listening to long, boring lectures from teachers at school. The way in which students are currently analyzing and interpreting texts that they read and videos that they watch have not been up to our standards here at North Windsor High School. The thing is, a lot of our teachers are also struggling between teaching with both print text and by digital means. North Windsor High School acknowledges the fact that many seniors graduate not having the digital skills and print text literacy necessary to lead successful lives after high school. We are beginning to implement some changes with our teaching methods and hope to incorporate technology and print text in different and more engaging ways.

The World Wide Web had revitalized education by making it easier, and more efficient to teach. Before the creation of the Internet, the most popular and widely used way of teaching was mainly with books and lectures, limiting the speed and efficiency of information to learn, while also limiting the number of units given in a school year. With the Internet, teachers were able to discover and teach topics easily, leading to quicker lessons and topics as they use the web browser and online sources to benefit the speed of the lessons as well as better the students in different ways to educate. In addition to teachers using the Internet, students also greatly used it to help with homework, to fully understand a topic, to help with projects, and to communicate with their teachers. In a study from Pew Internet & American Life Project over students and their interaction with the

The online world has ensured various learning capabilities that make use of communication through writing. The aspects of communication provided have led to varied knowledge and skills that are essential for learning. The online world has instilled the discipline of patience and the skills of critical thinking as learners communicate through discussion boards and other social media platforms. The online world has increased knowledge capabilities on different minds as it ensures various aspects of asking questions from a varied line of resources. Human minds have been a great source of information as members share their experiences and learning modalities with each other (Hansen, 2008).

Technologies is currently changing and due to how business market products to educators we need to constantly reinvent new ways to implement this information to be in alignment with the twenty first century critical learning. Students are constantly involved in technology and we educators would benefit to learn new ways to deliver our classroom instructions to promote better students’ interact and to have students to become critical thinkers.

As we continue in the future, online classes are becoming more and more popular. Students are able to work and continue education with more flexibility. The most common problem with the online class is communication, as well as learning is not always successful. In a recent article by Maria Konnikova, Ziming Liu, a professor at San Jose State University suggests, “On screen, people tended to browse and scan, to look for keywords, and to read in a less linear, more selective fashion. On the page, they tended to concentrate more on following the text.”(Konnikova. Par. 3). Perhaps instead of just an online class, an instructor combines the two. Some parts of the class, such as video lectures should be presented online, and other things like homework or work be done in class.

Andrea Lunsford, an English professor at Stanford University, states that technology is not hurting students, but it is helping students. Many people believe that ,while students are on the internet, they are wasting time and not learning anything. After concluding that students were using the internet for a substantial amount of time, Andrea Lunsford and her research team discovered that, “rather than leading to a new illiteracy, these activities [seem] to help [students] develop a range [. . .] of writing styles, tones and formats along with a range of abilities” (Lunsford 571). The internet contains many different that students have access to.

Before the Internet, students did work in books and teachers taught through books. Almost everyone in the same grade was taught the same, with a limited curriculum until technology took over the world. Now that society has endless resources from the advancements of technology, students, teachers, and others use it to expand their knowledge on certain subjects and also to complete their work faster. The effects of technology is explained in the text, “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” by Amy Goldwasser, she argues that the Internet actually aids kids in developing skills in writing and problem solving. Steven Pinker also defends the use of technology in his essay, “Mind Over Mass Media” by claiming that people just need to control their use of technology.

In the 21st century, students must be adept in new literacies and technology. Teachers, educators, and parents have a responsibility to teach students the skills they need to become proficient in these areas. Therefore, educators should find engaging ways to incorporate the use of technology into the curriculum. Parents are also mentioned because outside of the classroom, they have an obligation and responsibility to interact and observe how technology is being used.

Initially, I enjoyed the commentary about how today’s technology is making contemporary classrooms richer learning environments. Being a highly involved individual in technology myself, I whole-heartedly believe that in the right hands or under instruction, technology can make the learning process a more fluent process. For example, when I have had issues with a particular topic or subject matter, I will find videos online, diagrams, and many other technological tools to help.

As schools promote 21st-century learning, there has been a push for literacies which encourage students to be 21st-century learners. The two overarching literacies, new and digital, has taken over the three R’s literacy, reading, writing, and arithmetic. New Literacies continuously change due to the new technology emerging providing different ways to get information and communicate with others (Leu et al., 2015). In contrast, digital literacy is the ability to use digital tools to access information for understanding and communication (Jose, 2016). New literacies and digital literacies also differ in aspects of use in the classroom. New literacies are the building blocks for digital literacy; which are the skills students need to understand the internet (Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2017). New literacies can be taught without the use of technology because students are learning to locate, evaluate, synthesize, and communicate information. Teachers can demonstrate these skills using encyclopedias and journal articles to gain a minimalistic comprehension. Once students learn the necessary understanding, teachers can transfer these skills to online which will promote digital literacy; furthermore, digital literacy can only be taught using digital tools. Teachers would teach students how to use computers and the social practices of the new literacies to gain an understanding of the digital literacy (Jose, 2016). Furthermore, digital literacies

This article attempts to enlighten educators to allow computers in the classroom as a workshop to help improve literacy. The computer allows for students to have both a visual and a verbal reference to a topic, thus, solidifying a concrete comprehension of the text, allowing the student to be further engaged and stimulated with the assignment. Over the years, educators have seen such a vast change in technology, especially in the classroom. It is time now, that educators embrace the change and use it to their advantage. “If students can be motivated and engaged when using technology, teachers should continue to support this type of learning when appropriate.”

The goal for educators across the country is to become a facilitator in the classroom and encourage the students to construct their own knowledge. One of the best ways for students to construct their own knowledge about the world around them is by engaging in hands on activities and collaborating with others through technology. As educators’ progress through the SAMR model, they go from enhancing student learning to transforming it. To be specific, the third step in Dr. Puentendura’s model is modification. “Modification is the level where technology is being used more effectively not to do the same task using different tools but to redesign new parts of the task & transform students’ learning” (Educatorstechnology, 2013). At this level, students can build upon their prior knowledge by searching the web to find sources that support their perspectives. While on the web, the students can also type and/or record their summaries on a discussion board. By posting their summaries on a discussion board, the students can collaborate and share feedback with their classmates. The fourth and final step in the SAMR model is redefinition. According to Educatorstechnology (2013), redefinition is when students connect to a classroom across the world where they would write a narrative on the same event using chat and the comment section. The students can also provide feedback to their peers by using voice comments. At this level, the students can share information by embedding sources on their class discussion

Teaching and learning in the 21st century develop skills beyond listening, watching and remembering. Education in the 21st century incorporates advanced learning tools, development of skills, while actively involved in your own learning and environment. Also, education today is motivating while inspiring and preparing students for today’s world. Students gain the ability to adapt when needed for the changing world of tomorrow. Twenty-first century education is understanding how students learn with a more hands-on approach while building skills. However, the ‘4C’s creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration’ (Kolk, 2011) are skills that are important for students learning. Therefore, they can actively consume and create data and knowledge in ways that deliver substance and relevance to them (Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd & Hipkins, 2012; Watson, 2012). Clearly, the classroom in the 21st century is a modern environment. This modern environment consisting of little groups of tables placed together for students to sit and learn together as well as discuss what they are doing. Meanwhile, displaying student’s art to decorate the classroom has a sense of pride. Above all, the classroom has visible items as an interactive whiteboard, Internet access, projector and computers, accessible for student and teachers daily.