Teaching Labor Relations - Case Study Example

Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code and Name: Date Assignment is due: Scenario Mary is a retired teacher who used to teach Mountain View School over ten years ago. Back then, Mary as extremely efficient and everybody liked her because she delivered her lessons well and her subjects were among the top ranked within the school as the best performed. She used to teach religious and social studies as the main areas of specialization but was into English and History in some lower classes. After her retire, everyone missed her, and they remembered her for her excellent history in teaching. After ten years, Mountain View School has fallen short of teachers with the current trend of many teachers seeking career opportunities in other fields. The school has resulted to finding remedies for the situation and calling back retirees has been identified as a perfect approach. Ten years ago, teaching in classes was rather interactive, and the generation of students then was more conversant with the traditional methods of teaching. These involved the use of a black board, chalk and books where students would take notes as the teacher dictates (Farrell 25 - 27). In this new century, ten years later, education and learning has changed. Technology is advancing in every field of human practice and teaching and learning is not an exemption (John 355 - 374). Teaching and learning methods have changed, and technology has introduced new ideas and facilities in these institutions. For Mary, it was her first time in class when she was supremely embarrassed to enter a class, and she realized that a laptop was on the desk and a projector facing a white board which she used to use as a black board. The main challenge to her could be identified as difficulties in the application of new and advanced technologies to education in the current teaching methods and in the pursuit of optimizing educational outcomes. The school uses an Active Classroom System comprising of the interactive whiteboard and other software tools and resources unreservedly new to her. There were also other Peripherals added on, including the Active Slate that was meant for ease in teachers and students control of the front white-board (Farrell 25 - 27). The system also had a set of 32 hand-held voting devices providing teachers during lessons an instant student feedback (John 355 - 374). In addition, an Active Tablet system was being used by teachers allowing them to develop lesson plans as well as any flip charts required in the process of class lessons when away from the white board. For such a teacher as Mary returning to teaching, she has this immense challenge of personally being able to use Information and Communication Technologies advanced in these schools and which has been part of teaching in the classes. The methods have changed, but Mary has not and this poses as a great challenge. Using a computer is undoubtedly a hard nut to crack for her and worse to this is the use of the projector for illustrations (Farrell 25 - 27). She does not have knowledge of using any of these technologies and therefore, faces disappointments since she cannot go back to the traditional ways of teaching. The 21st century teaching has changed, and this has happened in all disciplines (Farrell 25 - 27). What is more embarrassing is the facts that the students are well versed with the new technologies and have advanced knowledge on the same yet the teachers are still lagging behind in catching up with the new technologies (John 355 - 374). The new age of technology has changed the curriculum in many institutions where IT has been incorporated in that students learn more than the basics of the common subjects (Farrell 25 - 27). The students use technological applies including online learning, and this poses as a challenge to a teacher of the older generation having to interact with such students. Among the new ventures of the new era, is distance learning. In her first lesson which she did using the new interactive whiteboards (IWB), teacher Mary was quoted after class saying “I was exposed to interactive whiteboard technology just today something that was not there ten years ago,” she added that, “It was exciting in trying to figure out how the technology worked and to see myself in action but it was a big challenge since I did not have ample knowledge on the same and therefore, in most of the times I kept on using the basic non-integrated tools including the blackboards and the whiteboards.” The monumental challenge comes out clearly that the exposure of students to IT / ICT in Education for students is much better than the teachers who have minimal exposure of the same. What was even more was that the school had adopted web-enhanced courses. Mary was startled to hear that students were no longer used to what was earlier known as the assignments handed in later in printed formats. The students could now communicate with teachers through the Internet (email and chats) and did not have to attend all classes. It was like a culture shock for Mary whose idea was that she was to continue from where she started. How to deal with the situation New technologies are now integrated in the educational system and appliances including projectors and computers which is a new venture for teachers who once were integrated in the traditional ways of teaching (Farrell 25 - 27). The significant challenge is for these teachers to change and align themselves with these new technologies if they are to fit in the educational programs of the new century. To address these challenges, teachers need to engage themselves in distance learning. This approach could be among the most suitable and efficient ways of learning how to use the new technologies in education (John 355 - 374). It is on great alternative bearing in mind that many teachers do not have time at school due to the busy schedule and therefore, cannot learn the new skills of using these technologies while at school. They can do so at home comfortably and with ample time to correct themselves. Step by step programs could be of value to the teachers in training them on the new technologies fast and efficiently for later use in classes (John 355 - 374). Institutions also have a role to play in finding a solution to the existing problem. In recruitment, there is a need to assess the skills of the teachers in using ICT in their teaching methods (Farrell 25 - 27). Competitiveness might be more than the ICT skills therefore; dropping the traditional teachers is not a solution (John 355 - 374). The solution lays in training these teachers well before they start their classes and equipping them with the appropriate skills required in using the technologies (Farrell 25 - 27). Institutions in this case can partner with their immediate and Regional ICT Training Centers who after recruitment can train the teachers particularly on the basics of IT literacy as skills required in using ICT in the learning and teaching practices. Practice is what will make perfect for the teachers willing to still teach in the modern education systems. However, the teachers should be allowed to hand-write in their lessons before they verse themselves well with the new technologies (John 355 - 374). In fact, what is required is flexibility within the teaching practices to allow teachers do it their own way and make the best in the teaching practices for maximum output (Farrell 25 - 27). Like in this case, teacher Mary should have been allowed to still use the traditional way of hand-writing before she gained the necessary skills of using the ICT in teaching. The traditional courses do not engage technology a lot, and this are what the institution should consider when assigning courses to teachers. In this case, teacher Mary should not be assigned web based courses up until she is able to use the new technologies. It is all about planning within the institution so that everyone is comfortable with the teaching methods and processes are effectively carried out (John 355 - 374). Traditional courses, which are classroom based and engage face to face interactions, are best to start with for teacher Mary as she progresses with the learning. This is part of what the institution should uphold to retain the labor force of teachers and avoid turn over due to the challenges brought in by the new technologies (Farrell 25 - 27). The ultimate solution is necessitating hybrid classrooms (Farrell 25 - 27). A hybrid classroom is an approach that many institutions have taken where they combine both traditional face-to-face interaction during lessons and the online interaction. This is one of the best education solutions that institutions can take in situations where some teachers do not have the skills of using online interaction (Farrell 25 - 27). The same case applies to students who might not have the capacity of understanding the use of new technologies having being versed with the traditional learning methods. Hybrid courses are what will help in offering everyone an opportunity including students and teachers convenience in teaching and learning processes (John 355 - 374). Works Cited Farrell, G. The development of virtual education: A global perspective. Vancouver: The Commonwealth of Learning. 1999, 25 – 27. John, W. teaching labor relations: Opportunities and challenges of using technology. Journal of Labor Research, 23.3 (2008), 355-374. Read More