High school graduates are interring a very different world than of previous generations. This is both in terms of technology and professional prospects. This is partially due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and automation. Upon graduation, graduates find themselves in an environment where there are little or no easily accessible jobs. Businesses have become ever more reliant on technology, and skilled workers in possession of modern essential competencies are needed. But what does that mean for teachers and instructional design? To start, teacher education and instructional design must be orchestrated to ultimately serve the purpose of imparting the needed competencies.
A pivotal aspect of being able to impart needed competencies is the teacher's competency as a professional. It's of paramount importance, for teachers to know about and how to use the required resources to better prepare their students for their brave new world of inheritance. Included in knowing about is also keeping apprised of the latest technological products and innovations pertinent to their occupation. Of course, if teachers don't know how to use the new technologies, they are for all practical purposes: useless. So, of course, annual training is essential.
I think the best way to provide training is for teachers and decision makers to adopt the essential classroom model. The essential classroom model or ECM is a model based upon a continuous flow of teacher trainer-to-teacher, teacher to student, student to teacher , and finally teacher to teacher trainer. It goes like this:
Teacher Trainer to Teacher
Skilled and experienced teachers train the neophytes in the modern essentials.
Teacher to Student
Teachers then take that acquired knowledge and design the needed instruction. To present to the student.
Student to Teacher
After instruction sStudents provide feedback to the teacher.
Teacher to Teacher Trainer
Teachers provide feedback to the teacher trainer. The teacher trainer then makes adjustments to their training based on input from teachers.
The essential classroom model attempts to present content that has a symbiotic relationship with the modern mediums. Computers, laptops, and even smartphones are integrated into the instructional design process. In addition to this, the teacher must be in the presence of students with the resources and ability to utilize the required technologies. This probably can only be accomplished through introductions and demonstration of the technology followed by modeling. The students have the means equality to be successful long as the student is apprised and trained to use the available technology.
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