21st Century Classroom

     As time passes, many things and objectives changed, but I do believe that one thing would always remain the same no matter what. That is the goal of education. I believe that the goal is to educate, guide, and prepare students "to become productive members of the workplace." On the other hand, the main difference between the 21st century classrooms and the classrooms of 10 or 20 years ago are the pedagogies and the methodologies that the teachers chose to use in order to prepare the students.

     Ten years ago, I was still a young student in the classroom, so I can truly say that I have first-hand experience with teachers that use the older method of teaching versus teachers that use more evidence-based approach of teaching (or at least some were transiting from the old to the new pedagogy). I recall that some of my teachers only stayed in front of the classroom to teach. They would only use a primary source, the textbook, to teach. They would also tend to teach in one teaching style throughout that entire school year. I also remember how my teachers would assess us: through tests, projects, and papers.

     Now that time are changing, the way we as future educators must learn to use pedagogies that theoretically will help the students learn. In the current classrooms, educators has to focus on students' learning styles such as visual learners, kinetic learners, etc... This means that the classroom will now be student-oriented. Teachers nowadays would also move around the classroom. Teachers and textbooks are also no longer the primary source/way of gathering information. Now, even the different types of assessments are growing: testing, projects, papers, newsletters, etc. I think that the major difference between the classrooms of the past and the present are the use of technologies. Technologies have become more advanced and that help creates more different possibilities of learning. An example would be the Smart Board, its presentation in the form of a whiteboard, but it has many more functions that will allow the teacher to manage their time easier. Also, it creates a fun way that can interact with the students.

     Sometimes, it is easier to experience things first-hand to understand the major differences between the classrooms of 10 years ago to the classrooms of todays time.