ICT in your Class

From Frustration to Empowerment

With the constant change around us, there are still some places where there's been little or no change throughout the years – and one of those is schools. In today's digital world it is difficult, almost impossible, to avoid technology, but unfortunately sometimes that's exactly what happens with schools and teachers. Technology is getting everywhere and this could be either very bad or very good, depending on whether we succeed in catalyzing it the right way. It has the potential to be very positive for students and educators.

Let’s begin with the students. They live in the world of NOW based on digital interaction, looking for instant rewards, exposed to a huge amount of information. This might make them savvy on everything, but they're learning these things without any guidance.

Let’s now talk about the teachers. Traditional education is based on the image of a Teacher who is a source of knowledge, and whose authority relies on it. In reality everything is changing, and information is now available everywhere. These days, teaching is not only about knowledge, but about guidance and understanding of the educational path students are walking.

The introduction of ICT tools in day-to-day teaching and learning is fundamental to bridge those gaps. It is my belief that with these tools teachers can became more relevant to the educational process, motivating students and making their job much more productive.

Relevance - since students already live “there” and schools should aspire to be a part of students' everyday reality. Educators must connect the educational experience to life beyond the school's walls.

Motivation - students enter school and feel that what is presented to them has nothing to do with their world. Introducing ICT is a way to change this. The aim is to use ICT tools not only as entertainment, but as a way of redesigning the educational process and making the student the main character of his own education.

Productiveness – Educators do not have enough time to perform all their duties and achieve all their goals, and unfortunately their context (the educational institutions they work for) can not always provide an answer to this situation. With the right use of technology, they can “make more with less”. Today’s technology can assist the Educator in organizing processes in a way that will help them reach all students, and provide each one what he or she needs.

-Explore free apps such as Edmodo, ClassDojo or Wikis -

The reason I call to the introduction of ICT tools in classrooms is “From Frustration to Empowerment” is that Teachers are usually afraid of using them.Most teachers are afraid that the students know how to use technology better than them. So… to take this “white elephant” out of the room - in 99% of the cases students will know more about how to use technology and will be better at it. But they do not know pedagogy nor the content you are teaching as well as you. Moreover you are the one who better knows and understands the educational paths they are going to walk.

Try as much as you can, each time something new. Do not try to be a good teacher, but a good Educator.

“To “Tech” or not to “tech” education is not the question. The real question is how to harvest the power of technology to meet the challenges of the 21st century and make education relevant, responsive, and effective for (every)one, anywhere, anytime” Haddad and Draxler, 2002.