The CLASSROOM is the DISRUPTION?!?

An assessment on the role of technology in the 21^st century classroom:  It’s the classroom that’s the disruption!

The audacity of such a statement is almost laughable.  Who would dare suggest such a ludicrous idea, especially in an age where students can barely break away from their electronic devices long enough to devote at least ½ hour of undivided attention to guided scholastic instruction?  Since when did the latest social network update, media events or sports highlights and commentary become the priority, and academics second?  Such a statement is surely a product of the “signs of the times”, when students shall rise up against their teachers, and cause them to be put to death!

And yet the words spoken by Mark Pesce in his speech “Those Wacky Kids” just over 5 years ago, truly struck me between the eyes with dead-on accuracy.  Undeniably, in my teaching experience I have noticed that some students have viewed academic material as simple “hurdles” to be jumped over, just to get a grade and say that they’ve done what they’ve been asked to do.  For those students, my challenge was to construct lessons and activities that would build a greater understanding and personal relevance, even if that perspective wasn’t clear at first.  However, if the methods I as a teacher have been implementing are completely irrelevant to their current social context, then certainly the classroom is the disruption and a true safe haven for Mr. Winkle has been created, as depicted here:

Pesce also notes that “students have lost respect for the classroom, because it has no relevance to their lives.” This is quite the paradigm shift for many like me who have grown up where it was the students who needed to adapt to the climate of education, and not vise versa.  As challenging as this may be for some to accept, this is not a weakness by any stretch of the imagination.  The fact that young people  are not only able to constantly remain interconnected to both people and information, but produce and “upload” this information as well means that each individual has the ability to be an instant contributor to society, and be self-taught to boot!

As Pesce pointed out, our students live in an age of “hyperconnectivity”, and are shaped by their social experiences.  Coupling the belief that children learn through interactions with their environment with Thomas Friedman’s observations that since the turn of the new millennium a platform has emerged that allows individuals to have more equal ability to “plug, play, compete, connect and collaborate, globally,” it is even more obvious that is only the classrooms that have failed to adapt. 

In my current Religion classroom, such an adaptation opens up many possibilities.  Equipping and empowering students to share their faith within their immediate context would be incredible, and I look forward to learning of more versatile methods to utilize besides social media.  Yet as technology is further incorporated, the challenge remains to be able to teach students how to focus and occasionally get “unplugged” to spend the time necessary with God.  Technology has created a different dynamic on so many issues, whereas families may not even have family dinner together, yet spend more time connected to both friends and strangers alike.  How much more difficult might it be to intentionally move away into solitude to spend precious hours alone with our Saviour, as He did with His Father while here on earth? 

The crux of the matter is, to truly teach our students, we must meet them where they are, within their current context of technology, and model the behaviour needed to give them the tools to succeed.  Truly, the work of education and redemption are indeed one.