The new role of the teacher

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 435.

Educationalists, researchers and administrators have recognised that the introduction of the new media into educational institutions calls for a change in learning and teaching patterns. Experts polled for a Delphi Study (Vollstädt, 2003), conducted for the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, believe that the new media will lead to a major change in the culture of learning. The reasons given for this supposition are the learning efforts and learning possibilities linked to the new media. They believe that the new media:

• call for and facilitate more independence on the part of the learner, more self-directed activities and the organization of learning processes;

• encourage interactive work;

• facilitate direct feedback;

• call for a change in the role distribution of teacher/learner, where learners take on teaching functions;

• enable contents to be continually updated with minimum efforts;

• provide faster access to teaching materials;

• provide greater opportunities for individual forms of learning;

• but also demand more social learning in group and team work.

But experts emphasize that new teaching and learning media alone do not automatically lead to a new culture of learning but simply offer the opportunity for change. Teachers' attitudes to the new media and appropriate concepts for their use and for the orchestration of learning will decide whether the desired outcomes can be achieved and whether a major shift in the culture of learning is possible. The multiplication of learning spaces beyond the institutional context (school, university, teaching institution) is of particular relevance and will change the character and contents of school-based learning and allow teachers to take into consideration the complexity and individuality of learning. Experts polled in the Delphi Study cited above were of the opinion that there will be a considerable growth in the importance of learning processes outside school. Nevertheless, they emphasized that the chief place for learning will remain the school/teaching institution. In addition, it should be stated that the new media are not seen as a panacea for teaching/learning problems, nor are they a replacement for present models of language learning. ICT alone cannot provide a comprehensive basis for language learning. ICT must be integrated into present, proven, and successful practice if full benefits of their advantages are to be reaped. Their adoption should represent a complement and addition to present models, contributing to an evolution towards the concept of a new culture of learning.