Teaching and Learning: Past & Present

When I was a student in middle school, everything seemed to be in two parts. Either teachers were lecturing every single subject in class or we were memorizing the facts and every single page of the book. It didn’t matter whether it was geography, history, social studies, literature, math or languages. What we only did, was sitting still in class, being quiet, listening to boring lectures, reading assigned pages of book, copying them in our notebooks and on the test day, memorizing and answering the predefined questions of the book. Nowadays, things have changed and I hope the change will further into a better future.
I see changes now, when I ask students in different levels and schools for their teachers and their teaching styles. What they do in class and how happy they are. The load of the work in not less, though. But what I can see and feel from their faces, shows that they are learning and they are enjoying their learning.
This is not only with kids at school but adults with Community Education program across the country. Programs where adult can continue their education for self study or work force are not few. These courses are both presented in a traditional face to face format as well as hybrid courses of online or virtual classes where they can study at their own pace at home. The number of adults who have registered for these programs are dramatically increasing. It is very true that these programs are not only beneficiary to them for the fact that they are offered in an online format but also that the classes are centered around students as independent learners, their interests, their learning for now and their flexible structure and much more.
One very example of this are the programs offered for adults transitioning and switching careers. There are for sure, many paths for switching jobs for undergraduates and graduates from colleges, but for working adults who have got very little time and even limited budgeting, these programs go beyond their expectations. The flexibility of these programs, the learning for now and the hand on experience in the fieldwork give adults to start and finish up their dream!
Students today need not only to be taught new content but also want to be participating and being part of the whole community. They are no more the passive and quiet side of the classroom, listening and obeying and having no control over their future. They want to know, they want to learn and they want to know that they are learning. Thus setting up rubrics and checklist as well as self reflection and self assessment help them better knowing where they are and in what direction they are headed. I believe by making students in control of their own lives and learning, we can set a better learner in them. For sure an alternate way of assessment is needed and one of the best ones would be self-assessment.