Shifting and progress is inevitable. As we progress thru’ this fast and furious age of technology, educators like us need to keep abrest of the latest in whatever. Since internet access is so easily available, our students are learning new concepts, getting to know new softwares and even watching new shows that is not available locally yet. It is quite frightening everytime a student comes up to me and says, ” Mr Faizul did you know…….” and I will be stunned for a moment and responded with “Oh yeah, of course….” or with the customary ” Oh really….wow that’s interesting…” and move along quickly.

The video vividly depicts a fast changing world where those who prefers to live in the past will be outpaced and definately outlast by the up-to-date personnel. Where educators are concern we need to be updated by the latest teaching pedagogy which have been proved effective or even devise and adapt our own teaching tools. While some traditonal teachers swear by the “spare the rod and spoil the child” concept, we need to understand that the children of today needs logical reasoning to get our message across to them.

If we look back in the past on how we were educated by our teachers, how much of those education we received were relevant today. If we compare our P1 topics then and now, so much have changed and we have to admit it is not getting any easier. We are definately preparing our students for the competitive world that they are going to face. There is of course so much we can do. The most important thing is to lay a strong academic foundation for them to build on.

It would be good if we can nurture them to love learning. As we have discussed earlier, the world is evolving at a frantic pace and if we do not instill in our kids the passion for learning, they will just rest on their laurels deluding themselves that whatever they have learn is enough for them to to get through their life. To inculcate the mentality of acquiring education from cradle to grave mentality will help them keep abreast of the the world and they might even be one of those to make a break through in engineering, academic or even medical history.

As I answer the question, “How do my students learn?” The first thing that comes to my mind is visual. My students are largely visual learners. As students with autism, they are largely visual learners. In the mainstream school the natural way to teach is via auditory where most of the instructions given by teachers are thru’ verbal. Bearing in mind the MI theory, not all students are able to process auditorily and to be a bit more technical, auditory processing ability especially with students with special needs (autism biased) is weak.

In my class, I use video reflection for my students with ADHD and discuss with them what the students in the video (i.e.disruptive behaviour) could have done better and how does the rest of the class feels of his action. This engages them more VS me lecturing them that their behaviour is unacceptable…blah blah blah….

In the next 5 years technology will definately play a bigger role in our education system especially where special needs is concern. Allowing them to express themselves better and with more confidence especially for those with speech impairments. Using the computers to type and submit their essays for those with poor penmanship due to weak fine motor skills will be a norm in the future.

As I champion the use of technology for school and communication, one might ponder the reverse impact it will have on those socially withdrawn to have their impairment  have a turn for the worst as they hide behind their laptops in obscurity from the human world….