One of the assignments that I give to my graduate student in an educational technology course is as follows: they are asked to blog about how they think teaching will change in the future as technology continues to advance.

Most of them quickly reassure themselves that teachers will always be needed, and that technology (read: computers) will not replace them in the classroom. After reading an article in a recent eSchool News (click here for a PDF of the issue – the article is Frontiers of Brain Research) I still agree with them, but I think that their role in the classroom will change more than they realize.

Two items discussed in the article revolve around the teaching of fundamental reading and math skills.  While specific hardware/software tools were discussed (see here and here), I would like to take a step back to look at this from the perspective of the classroom teacher.

Could I be replaced by a computer?  For some of the basic, repetitive (rote?) learning that takes place in the classroom, I believe the answer could be, and possibly should be, yes.  Software can bring those boring-when-delivered-by-the-teacher tasks to life with graphics, animations, sounds, etc.  Plus, droning on about the same math facts over and over leads to fatigue on the job, right?

So, what should the role of the classroom teacher be in a technological future (present)?

Well obviously, the teacher would still facilitate the connection between the student and the hardware/software to ensure that each student is indeed progressing through the material appropriately, but if some of the direct instruction work was removed from the teacher’s workload, wouldn’t they then be able to truly embrace a more constructivist approach to their teaching practice?

Expand this beyond foundational reading and math info.  Instead of lecturing on battle dates and general’s names, wouldn’t it be more interesting to hold a class discussion on causes of conflict through the various wars – with an emphasis on searching for patterns to better understand the root cause of conflict between nations?

I think that regardless of the level of technology, people will still teach other people.  I just think that as technology improves, and newer teachers embrace what technology can bring to their practice, we will continue to see innovative strategies for mastering content.

Thoughts?