What progress have we made in American education?

The advent of the 21st century has brought many revolutions in the world, and majorly in the technological sector. The staggering progress in technological innovations has not only created changes in one or two sectors but has transfigured the entire working mechanism of various fields. It can be seen in history that many meaningful shifts occur in society, when unpredicted happenings force the widespread experimentation around any latest notion.

During World War II, when American men stepped out for the war, women handled all the men’s work and proved successful. Women never stepped back after that.

It is said that humans naturally resist change, but the truth is humans do not naturally oppose the change. They accept the changes when they believe it’s in their best interest to do so. One of the major impacts of technology can be witnessed in our educational sectors. All of the educational sectors have introduced digitalization in tasks, due to which teachers and students are now encouraged to practice their educational activities on various online platforms. This transition is also one of the results of the 2020 pandemic. The integrity and reputation of education, as well as of teachers, depends upon the ways through which you deliver effective online lessons.

For the successful implementation of students’ online learning experiences, it is vital to provide professional development, time, and technology resources. If you get all essential elements together in an effective way, you can provide relevant instruction and strong learning opportunities.

For this, teachers have to become capable of building the following:

· Understandable guidance and expectations. This is important for students when the teacher is not present in the room to track their work.

· Various resources that support learning, such as “micro-lectures.” This puts the long material into small and logical modules; online videos, multimedia presentations, readings, interactive online explorations and offline hands-on activities. Through varied tools, students can learn and grasp the concept properly, and empower the teacher to enhance the students’ learning experience.

· Personalized instruction. Provide students easy and compatible pathways through the content. Offer different ways for students to finish tasks and provide tools and resources for students with learning differences or learning disabilities. Monitor the progress of every student and identify when and where they need more support. For students to be effective online learners, communicators, and collaborators, it is important to model and facilitate online exchanges that deliver the best ways for them to interact and work online.

With this all being said, try to embrace the change, but don’t be hard on yourself.

Try new experiments, make mistakes, learn from it, and have fun.

“Teaching-with-technology in this era is like engineering the plane while flying it.”

But remember, you are not alone in this journey. Your students, their parents, your family, colleagues, and friends are all pulling for you. For students, the most important thing is not your technical expertise but you’re teaching passion.

From the seventeenth century and into our twenty-first century, sprinkled across decades, these turning points brought challenges and unwanted upheaval to communities, teachers, and students. But change is not always a necessary evil. It all depends on how you view the change.