Dubai: The technological gap between students and teachers is widening as a large section of the teaching community is still resisting the use of technology in learning, experts say.
It's fear that is keeping them away from advanced online learning applications and tools, while students are embracing them passionately, said Patrick Beyrouti, the Middle East Manager of Arab Business Machine, which is the authorised distributor of Apple.
"Consider technology as a language. Teachers are left with the task of teaching students a language they've already mastered. If they're not losing jobs to technology, they are definitely losing respect. That is where the resistance comes from," said Beyrouti.
He spoke to Gulf News at the Rearden Educational's 2010 edition of Teach Me Conference in Dubai last week, which looked at the rising challenges for teachers as the profession is rapidly becoming more about guidance than instruction, given that students are more and more capable of acquiring knowledge on their own.
Source of knowledge
The two-day conference had lined up workshops and lectures for teachers, based on the premise that both teachers and parents often find themselves struggling to keep up with the technological prowess of their pupils or students.
In the words of Namir Hannah, the Founder of Rearden Educational: "Students are in control of their learning like never before and teachers have to guide them in their pursuit of knowledge. They are no longer the wise man in the classroom, whom students look up to as the ultimate source of knowledge".
Some teachers agree. K.N, a Grade 8 science teacher in a government school in Dubai says teachers are finding it difficult to command respect if they're not adept at technology.
"In our school, those teachers who are techno-savvy are quite popular amongst the boys. They are like friends who have common interests, like facebook, Ipad and new mobile phones, to discuss," said K.N.
A self-confessed techno-phobic, the Syrian teacher said he's making efforts to learn technology-based teaching tools to keep his students interested in the classroom.
"If I tell them about a new website where they can get some interesting facts, it is like at least half of the class would check it out. But if I ask them to go to the library and refer to something, hardly anyone is bothered," said K.N.
So are teachers and textbooks becoming obsolete in the technologically advanced world?
Dr Kari Stubbs, the Vice-President of BrainPOP, an online curriculum-based content developer, that claims to have six million visits to its website each month, says there's no grounds for fear for teachers.
"I think, on the contrary, the role of teachers is all the more important in this era of technology. It is a fact that teachers are becoming more like facilitators of knowledge. In that capacity, it is their biggest responsibility to manage the learning environment and also to make sure that students grow into responsible digital citizens," said Stubbs.
Significant
"The digital footprint teachers leave is significant in its impact for their students as is their footprint important for the coming generation," she added.
Stubbs, who was the keynote speaker at the conference was, in 2006, recognised by the National School Boards Association as one of the ‘20 to watch' rising leaders in the field of education technology.
While many agree that professional development and training are the way forward for teachers, Namir Hannah says the good news is that it's just a matter of time until the technological gap between pupils and teachers is filled. "It's a matter of a few years because today's students are tomorrow's teachers and it's very exciting to know that tomorrow's teachers will be a tech-savvy lot," said Hannah.
Have your say
Is technological progress reducing the importance of schooling in a child’s life? Do you think pupils are unable to respect teachers who are not tech-savvy? How can teachers
face the challenge of adopting to new technologies?Tell us.
