The key changes are taking place in education
The fundamental changes taking place in education include a changing instructional method as well as a changing teaching goal. Concise studies on sciences that have an impact on learning as well as the future. In the learning system, the students are being moved from thinking there always is one right answer to a problem but rather that there are different ways of approaching an issue to find a solution to the problems (Murphy, 2015). In essence, the learning system is enabling learners to become divergent thinkers. This kind of learning in the current education is becoming challenging and motivating for students. The education system is also witnessing a change that is impacting on the classroom climate to inculcate a culture of trust between the teachers and the students. As such the students are made to feel confident to work independently and upon the teacher’s instruction and teach themselves. There also is a growth in collaboration and leadership among learners. Classrooms are becoming more and more collaborative, and technology helps a lot in empowering the collaboration. As such students can now share ideas and take on leadership roles (Dole, Bloom, and Kowalske, 2016). The student-teacher roles are further changing. The students are becoming more actively engaged rather than just listening and regurgitating what the teacher says. Also, the teacher has become more of a facilitator than just an instructor. Another key change is the focus which is now directed towards an individual rather than average. The learning today pushes one's understanding beyond that of an average student.
How These Changes Impact/Affect Current Practice
The current changes in the education system are affecting the current practice in various ways. Firstly, the integration of technology in learning is enhancing education. Technology in schools is allowing teachers to deliver instructions in a more personalized manner. Consequently, the teachers can customize lessons to fit each student’s learning speed and style. The instructors are therefore able to allow students to learn and progress in their most comfortable pace and level enhancing education (Dole, Bloom, and Kowalske, 2016).
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Also, the technology is making textbooks to be extinct. It, therefore, follows that the system where learners would have been confined to classroom learnings is changing. The assignments can be given online, and as soon as they are available, the students can work on them from the comfort of their homes or anywhere else.
The classrooms have also become more collaborative. Unlike the usual system where the teacher instructs while the students only listen and regurgitate what the teacher has said. The learning is changing to become more interactive and thus students can freely exchange ideas making them more informed. It gives students more confidence in themselves encouraging self-learning and divergence in thinking as opposed to when student rely on the teachers for the right answer (Dole, Bloom, and Kowalske, 2016).
Some of the Factors That Drive Change
Some of the factors that drive the change in the education system are technology. Technology has shaped how learning occurs and is a major component of education in the recent times. Technology has had a profound effect on education expanding access to education. Due to internet availability, the journals, and other academic materials are available to individuals at the tip of their figures. Ever individual with a tablet or smartphone can access the education materials using the same. Technology has also expanded the opportunity for consultation and collaboration. Initially, students could only consult with their classmates. However today, there is various online platform where students could consult with other scholars and teachers as well. As scientists, Eduerati must continuously conduct research on the new trends in learning as a result of technology. According to Allison (2009), the researchers need to pay a close attention towards the teaching machines created as a result of nanotechnology, developments in biosciences, the social technology’s system theories, and the linkage between human knowledge development and all the sciences.
Another factor driving change is collaboration. Dole, Bloom, and Kowalske, (2016) explains that students need to collaborate and consult as they learn. The educators as well also need to collaborate to develop strategic plans and systems that can ensure the learning outcomes are improved. Consequently, there has been a collaborative effort in learning where consultation is widely used to propel learning.
How Information Technology Is Impacting Change
Information technology has impacted change in various ways. Currently, technology has impacted on teaching by becoming a supplemental teaching tool. Video clips and graphic are being used to aid teaching so that students are able to visualize and understand various concepts. In some cases, tutorial videos have been developed and made available online for those interested in accessing them and learning using them on YouTube.
Technology also offers additional resources for the students’ learning (Rienties, & Lygo-Baker, 2013). Teachers can make their lesson plans and make them available online for students and other teachers to access them. Also, there are educational Apps that students can download to help them learn certain concepts or subjects. The information supply to students also has been enabled by technology impacting on how students access learning materials. Currently on could easily download learning materials online and access them from their comfort rather than visit a library.
Technology has also impacted on the learning through enabling students to learn at their own pace. When teachers handle a topic in class, in most cases there are those who often lag behind and fail to get the concept with the rest. However, the integration of technology has enabled such students to be able to learn at a rate they find comfortable in order to understand and retain the information.
Technology is also changing the teacher students’ relationship (Rienties, & Lygo-Baker, 2013). In the traditional classroom set up, the teacher has always been the source of information while the students only listen and understand. However, things have changed. The ubiquity of smartphones, tablets and availability of the internet, the education, has changed to be about information anywhere anytime. Students do not only have to rely on the teachers for information but can learn even more than their teachers could no through accessing the information online via internet enabled devices.
The Specific Changes Occurring In My Own Educational Setting
In my own education setting the major changes are on technology integration. With the availability of internet made easy by Wi-Fi, most students today take advantage of the social media platforms to share information about class work. For instance, assignments, as well as other relevant information, are shared on the WhatsApp groups that class members subscribe to. This has enabled easy and quick information sharing where individuals can also seek clarification for information they never had. Also, learning materials such as notes and other journals are shared via WhatsApp as a social media enabling individuals to access them through their mobile phones. Technology has changed how learning occurs today. Individuals are able to access e-books via their personal mobile phones making reading very easy as opposed the requirements by one to borrow texts books from the library.
Secondly, instructors have adopted Divergent teaching which puts more emphasis on the student’s autonomy, active and as well as a self-reliant form of learning. Divergent teaching also takes another form to enable students who cannot learn on their own to be guided by their instructors and other students in a learning method referred to as guided divergent. This forms of learning are geared towards ensuring that students make use of their ability to understand and learn.
Also, Leadership has become a critical component in the learning curriculum today. Education leadership aims at improving the talents and energies of both the learners and the instructors so that they can achieve their shared education purpose (Murphy, 2015). In educational leadership, teachers working with other education professionals on plans that are systematic in order to improve the educational outcomes (Allison, 2009). Students also have their talents and skills natured towards their career.
Additionally, the education is changing to be more collaborative. Students today can share with their teachers about their learning including what they need to be improved. Students are also revising the school rules which makes it easy for them to abide. The collaborative learning also builds confidence in students who can share their weakness with the teachers to enable them consult closely with them and get assisted (Murphy, 2015). The education system has ceased to look at the class as collectively but rather as individuals with unique needs and skills. As such personalized attention is granted to different students based on their needs.
How an Effective Leader Successfully Guide a School/Organization in a Time of Rapid Change
In a time of rapid change, an effective leader successfully guides a school by understanding the change. In order to navigate better and achieve a positive outcome, they should undergo the managerial, transactional, distributed and transformational leadership paradigms (Murphy, 2015). This leadership paradigms equip an individual with the valuable resources necessary for addressing rapid. Therefore, the leader must be a change agent and as such should be able to get the commitment of others who may not be liking the thoughts of others. The leader should therefore not just be innovative but innovative with coherence (Cordeiro, & Cunningham, 2012). The leader should help others find a collective means to the desired change. In the first few months of change, the implementation is often bumpy.
An effective leader will ensure that they appreciate implementation progress and keep trudging on no matter the bumpy path to change. Also, an effective leader should be able to redefine resistance when effecting change (Cordeiro, & Cunningham, 2012). There often are those who are change resistant. When the naysayers rock the boat, it should never worry an effective leader but rather listens to their concerns and find a way to address them. An effective leader must understand what it means to re-culture, to cause a rapid change often requires structural and superficial actions. The process will involve what people value in the school, and the leader has to make sure that the change occurs by bringing the rest of the team to work together and own the process. That way they are able to achieve a good outcome and embrace the change. Nonetheless, the leaders need to be optimistic and inspire action towards a rapid change (Boncana, 2014). It is through supporting the team that they can manage to take the risk of creating a rapid change and having a better outcome from it. Also, Boncana (2014) contents that leaders need to understand the various leadership prototypes such as transactional, distributed, managerial and transformational, leaderships. Having knowledge about these leadership paradigms is essential towards for school leaders as they will gain much knowledge on how to go about management of schools.
Conclusion
Indeed, education has witnessed various changes over the past decades. This paper has identified some of the changes which include, changing instructional method as well as a changing teaching goal; change in the classroom climate to inculcate a culture of trust between the teachers and the students; a growth in collaboration and leadership among learners; focus which is now directed towards an individual rather than average. Among the drivers of change are technology and the need for collaboration. The paper also establishes that Information technology impacts education through creating instructional materials, increasing access to information, enabling ease of consultation among others. Finally, the paper confirmed that an effective leader could successfully guide a school by undergoing the four leadership paradigms of transformational, transactional, managerial and distributed leadership. This leadership paradigms equip an individual with the valuable resources necessary for addressing rapid. Therefore, the leader must be a change agent and as such should be able to get the commitment of others who may not be liking the thoughts of others.
References
Allison, B. (2009). Creating the eduerati: Professorial leadership to create K-12 educational system change. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 4(2).
Boncana, M. (2014). Transferring leadership from business to education: The case of Mr. Smith. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 17(2), 49. doi:10.1177/1555458914528912
Dole, S., Bloom, L., & Kowalske, K. (2016). Transforming pedagogy: Changing perspectives from teacher-centered to learner-centered. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 10(1), 45-58. doi:10.7771/1541-5015.1538
Murphy, J. J. (2015). Forces shaping schooling and school leadership. Journal of School Leadership, 25(6), 1064-1087.
Cordeiro, P. A., & Cunningham, W. G. (2012). Educational leadership: A bridge to improved practice . Pearson Higher Ed.
Rienties, B., Brouwer, N., & Lygo-Baker, S. (2013). The effects of online professional development on higher education teachers' beliefs and intentions towards learning facilitation and technology. Teaching and Teacher Education , 29 , 122-131.
