The Integrated Approach

As one who has training in Language Education, I have been long sold on the integrated approach as a method that is effective in classroom instruction. Consequently, when I again encountered it in this module, I had no problems seeing its value in the ICT enabled classroom.  

Despite its many benefits, there are challenges to be faced when seeking to use the integrated approach.  There is the issue of limited technological resources, lack of support from administrators and colleagues, lack of training, and problems with adapting the existing "old" curriculum to this new teaching approach.

What I however consider to be the greatest challenge in our Vincentian context, relates to the beliefs of our teachers re how teaching and learning should take place.  Ours is still a very traditional system, with a teacher-centered approach.  The integrated approach demands that the learner becomes the center of all that occurs in the classroom; hence there is a major conflict between the traditional and integrated approaches.  Success in using the latter would therefore require significant adjustments to one's philosophy of teaching.

I have personally been able to significantly adjust my method of operation in my classroom.  This did not happen overnight, nor was it easy.  In fact, it is still a work in progress. I do intend to continue to refine my classroom practice, all to the benefit of the students under my care. 

Minimally Invasive Education

The concept of Minimally Invasive Education is one that I find especially fascinating.  The basic premise of MIE is where a learning environment is created that is intended to generate the impetus that learners need to induce learning.  In short, it is educating learners with as little interference or intrusion as possible, and was borne out of experimental work conducted in India by Dr. Sugata Mitra. 

The results of Dr. Mitra’s “Hole in the Wall” experiments may cause one to wonder, as I did, whether the advancements in technology will one day eliminate the need for teachers.  While I do not believe that we will ever get to that place, what I do know is that the presence of technology has indeed brought about definite shifts in the way teaching and learning take place.  There is therefore much to learn from Mitra’s work. 

I believe that as teachers, we sometimes ignore the fact that our students are in possession of many of the skills - technological and otherwise - that they need to investigate and discover for themselves.  Consequently, we fail to tap into their potentials, and we lose them in the process. 

Thankfully, however, all is not lost, as we can work diligently towards changing the way we do things in order to maximize the use of ICT in our modern classrooms, bearing in mind the lessons learned from Mitra's experiments.

The Learners' Charter

The opportunity to participate in the creation of the Learners' Charter was a fulfilling experience for me. Being able to focus on the rights of learners to acquire quality education using ICT was a necessary perspective for me, as a class teacher, to have.  Completing the charter from the learners' perspective also added value to the experience.

Since it was my first time using MindMeister, I valued the activity even more, as it exposed me to yet another ICT tool that I can employ in my classroom.