How many times have you asked, or heard someone else pose the question:
“Why are you teaching me this? When will I ever use this in life?”
Although these questions sound an awful lot like complaints from a teacher’s perspective, there is some truth to them. There is a disconnect between what the schools are trying to teach in the classroom, and the applicability of it in the real world. More often than not students do not see the connection between academics and their interests. The truth is Math, Science, English and the other academic subjects are important in our everyday lives, and it’s up to us as educators to do a better job of making that connection to the students and explaining the value and importance of these subjects.
Customized Learning
The Conover Company’s assessments are student directed and self administered. The data that we can gather from them can help focus our attention on what the student actually needs to learn. Whether they go through our Learning Assessment Programs to assess academic/basic skills, or our Functional Skills System to assess and teach functional independence, the lessons need to be focused on that individual student’s needs and interests. The bottom line is, if the student is not interested in the subject, then there is no reason for him or her to learn.
Innovation in the Classroom
The reason students tend to day dream or lose focus in class is because they are bored and not stimulated enough. There was a recent article in Education Week titled, A ‘Split Screen’ Strategy for Innovation. It talks about the conventional thoughts toward education and how they limit innovation in the schools. Innovation inside the classroom can’t happen until we give students the freedom to figure out what motivates them. We need to eliminate the traditional teacher-led model, and form collaborative learning experiences among the students. Put the learning opportunity back in the hands of the students.
Reformatting for Accessibility
This is one of the many reasons we are reformatting all of our software to HTML5. Not only does this allow learners to access our programs on a computer via the Internet, but they will also have access on any mobile device with an Internet connection. Applying innovation to the traditional model of education should not only be accessible, it should be affordable. We’ve done our part to make that happen with the Internet version of our Functional Skills System available now, and the rest of the components becoming available in the coming months. To learn more, feel free to take a free trial of the Functional Skills System.
We strive to be a leader in this industry, and with the power of technology it is now possible for everyone to teach and learn. The traditional thought process needs to be blown out the window and we need to breathe innovation.
