Maya Hee Maya Hoo

I hope this song is stuck in your head, as after watching An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube for this blog, it is definitely stuck in my head. With that in mind we were asked to use this video to reflect on our changing world and the new culture of participation. With technology advancing every year, this world and the classrooms within it are ever changing and adapting.

In classrooms today, technology has a key role in both learning and teaching. Computers, tablets, laptops, or other devices are used in classrooms from K-12, allowing students to do more than they were previously able. As well these devices allow teachers to teach better than they could without them. During my field placement in ECS 100, my supervising teacher used videos online to teach phonics to the grade 1 students. The videos would take a letter and make a song using different words that start with that letter. The songs were very catchy and the students enjoyed listening and singing along to the songs. It was much more engaging for the students than simply listening to the teacher or writing in workbooks.

Technology has also allowed the sharing of information and resources to happen much easier. Teachers can find so many resources shared by other teachers online and use that in their teaching. There are so many different views and ideas online so teachers can decide for themselves what would suit their class best. Students can also share resources, learning from these sources to understand another class better. Another example of how this has shaped classrooms would be obvious, zoom classes. Zoom classes have shown that with today’s technology we can learn online from our own homes. It’s funny to think that just not very long ago, the idea of all of university being held online would have been laughed at. But with new advancements in education and technology, this is not only a real thing, but works well and isn’t a difficult matter to accomplish.

As for the future of classrooms, I think schools will need to adapt with the times. Evolve as technology and other ideas are developed. technology is always evolving and education needs to do the same in order to be the best it can be for both students and teachers alike. Without change, problems are never resolved. Change will always need to happen to resolve any challenges encountered, as well as just make the entire process easier and more streamlined.