Teachers

Students learn in different ways and effective teachers must be able to design rich learning experiences for students that engage their minds and hearts in intellectually robust ways.  Recent research has revealed that students need to have ongoing assessment woven into the very fabric of their day-to-day learning experiences in order to become self-directed in their learning and teachers need to use this assessment information to guide their instructional decisions.  It matters that teachers and students build strong pedagogical relationships.  In addition, teachers need to work with other teachers to improve their practice.

Preparing teachers for the 21st century requires a close look at what it means to teach and learn in increasingly networked, technology-rich, digital classrooms. Schools and teachers need to thoughtfully and intentionally design learning environments and tasks in which teachers can explore issues that are relevant and develop pedagogies that are effective for a knowledge era. They need to develop new images and acquire new expertise to design and facilitate meaningful learning with technology. Given this shift in our world, and the new research from the Learning Sciences, one can see the complexity that teachers face in working with learners in the 21st century