Sharing Good Practice
ARE YOUR STUDENTS READY TO COMPETE
WITH ROBOTS?
BY RANIA AMAIREH
T
he fast boom in technology
which has led to many tasks
in the workplace being given
to robots, makes the future
more uncertain for our students.
Many career opportunities that are
obtainable nowadays, will disappear
soon, leaving behind more educated
but jobless people, which will increase
the unemployment crisis, unless we do
something about it now. In preparing
the next generation we must anticipate
the skills they will need in order to
compete.
We need to prepare our students to
do the jobs that computers cannot do
and this requires us to immediately
stop teaching them the way we do
today. Children who are born with
tablets and I-pads in their hands
and who understand how to access
information at their finger tips, do
not need someone standing in
front of them pretending to be the
fountain of knowledge. Instead they
need someone who will help them to
acquire the skills, to correctly harness
the content that is so readily available
and use it in beneficial ways.
The paradigm shift in education being
caused by technology, means that
teaching our students to think critically,
solve problems, and communicate
effectively have to be the number one
job of all teachers and all schools.
The current debate in education is
centered around whether or not we do
away completely with the traditional
methods of teaching. I propose that
instead of replacing everything with
technology in the classroom, we find a
way to marry the two.
Technology in education should best
be seen as a platform or tool that can
help to transform the teaching and
learning activities for teachers and
students. Resources in classrooms,
when used correctly will enable the
students to become more engaged in
the learning process.
of skills and competencies. When
appropriately executed, this tailoring
process has been shown to lead to
increases in students’ learning.
It helps students to monitor their own
learning and to responding to useful
feedback. Students become more
responsible. Students take more
control over their own learning. They
learn how to make their own decisions,
and actually think for themselves.
As our world becomes increasingly
more
technology-dependent,
it
becomes even more necessary that
students learn how to interact with and
harness the power of technology. If
this is done correctly, our students will
not need to compete with robots, but
instead, will control them and harness
their powers.
The traditional passive learning mold
has been broken. With technology in
the classroom the teacher becomes
the encourager, adviser, and coach.
What do schools need to do?
• Increase the use of technology by
students and teachers
Technology-based learning systems
can support the personalisation of
the students’ learning experiences by
analysing students’ performance on
recent tasks and suggesting learning
activities, resources, or approaches
matched to each student’s profile
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Class Time
• Improve the IT competencies by
training teachers and familiarising
them with new technology.
• Provide the support, teachers
need when using technology in the
classroom and create a policy for
the use of technology.
• Provide parents with training
sessions to use the new technology
efficiently.
• Subscribe to a learning management
system (LMS) that has all the tools
needed to create engaging content,
design lessons, and assess students’
understanding.
• Enrich the high school electives with
more ICT programs such as robotics,
Design and Technology, Website
Development,
and
Electronic
Design courses.
• Communicate with both parents
and students and provide feedback
on the spot, through LMS in addition
to the school portal.
• Use different educational Apps,
and online resources such as
IXL, Plickers, My-on, Mathletics,
Edmodo, and Schoology.
Ms. Rania is currently working as a Vice Principal at Al Maaref Private School
with strong leadership and communication skills. She offers strong educational
background and more than 13 years of facilitating and guiding the learning
process. She had obtained her Master’s degree in education (Leadership and
Management) with distinction. She is mentoring a team of educators to improve
the school’s leadership and educational programs. She has personal interests
in Inquiry-based Learning, Discovery Learning, and curriculum designing.
Follow her on https://www.linkedin.com/in/rania-amaireh-aa2200b3/