Become A Teacher- The Cyber Teacher
These days, when you become a teacher, you will be using resources and teaching tools which only twenty years ago no-one had heard of. Computers, and the internet, are now part of every aspect of teaching. Tapping into cyberspace and the immense power it possesses, makes you a 'cyber teacher'.
This doesn't mean that you aren't going to be teaching your students in person any more. The 'cyber teacher' makes use of the internet during their day, and the huge resource that the internet's pool of knowledge provides, thereby adding great depth of meaning and richness to your classes.
Virtually every classroom today has several computers with internet connections and educational software installed. Laptops and wireless internet connections are also becoming more and more common, so that students can access the internet from their own desks. This means that the computer is becoming a standard tool for learning, just like a ruler or a pencil.
All this means that, when you become a teacher, your learning is never complete, because you must constantly keep up to date with the most recent advances with regard to cyberspace. Your students are sure to know all about what is going on in this regard, and you need to keep pace with them as well.
The internet is a tool for both research and communication. Group work doesn't just have to be undertaken by a group sitting around a table, because students can now connect with people elsewhere using such groupware as wikis and Google groups, to share work, pool resources and share information. A whole new way of completing a set task.
You the cyberteacher can also use the communication aspect of the internet to connect with students in their home, as well as their parents. Assignments don't have to be printed out and taken home on paper, because you can now make use of a class bulletin board, or email, so that students and parents can access them via their computers. No more will students be able to claim losing their assignment as an excuse for not doing it!
Of course parents need to be competent internet users too, if this is going to work. It isn't enough for the child to be capable, because you can't expect that he or she will be able to teach the parents. So you might have to provide classes for parents in computer use, and show them how to locate their child's assignments, grades, and teacher communications.
Education and communication are both enormously facilitated by making use of the internet. You can even have your students do their assignments online. This does away with the 'the dog ate my homework' excuse as well! Young people are very able in cyberspace usage, and may well work better this way. This will make you a better teacher as well, because you have learned to tap into a way of learning and assessing that suits today's student. When you decided to become a teacher, did you plan to be a 'cyber teacher'?
