Letter to a newbie teacher

Dear newbie teacher,

Welcome to the field of teaching.  I am sure you are following your passion and will do very well. However, I do have a few words of advice for you that may help you along the way and support you in achieving your goals faster.

First of all let me tell you about our students today. You might agree we are teaching a new generation of students, students who have grown up with technology around them. They are accustomed to integrating technology in all aspects of their lives and thus we need to integrate technology in their education as well. Thus to make learning more effective and real for them we as educators need to integrate technology in our teaching and learning. Another very important reason for doing so is the fact that we need to prepare these students for job markets where they have to be competent in using technology for achieving their tasks.

That being said about technology we also need to consider that these job markets require higher order skills from our students such as:  Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence,  Agility and Adaptability,  Initiative and Entrepreneurialism,  Effective Oral and Written Communication,  Accessing and Analyzing Information,  Curiosity and Imagination. These are considered as 21^st century learning skills. As educators we must focus not only on the content but also on using T&L approaches that impart these skills to our students.  Recent research has shown that digital literacy, collaboration, and social skills play a vital role in the success of students in the 21st century. Our aim should be to create collaborative learning communities that facilitate not only an engaged learning experience, but also prepare students with skills for the future.

You may be worried about making mistakes such as using a teaching approach that will not work. However, let me tell you that this is inevitable.  The same teaching approach may not work for the same level of students across sections. The only way to look at it is a learning experience. You need to remember that all students are different and group dynamics makes them even more different. Therefore, it is important to understand the nature of your students, build a rapport with them and gain their trust.

Another important thing I want to tell you about is assessment. Assessments should be part of the learning process integrated within the learning and not thought of as simply a means to reward or punish the students for their understanding of their course material. When you are conducting assessments, you are not only assessing the students but also your own teaching and learning methods. This implies you need to clearly define the goals of your T&L and integrate appropriate assessments while doing so. I truly believe that assessments should be motivating to the students and should be used as a way to allow us to give feedback on students learning so the student as well as the teacher can know the progress of the student within the course.

Lastly let’s talk about what makes teaching IT different? As you know this is an ever changing field. Due to this fact I think the most important skills our students need in this field are two fold - they need to know the technical side of things but most importantly they need to be able to learn on their own. The 21^st century skills apply to our students more than any other field. The success of our students, in their workplace, is dependent on their ability to adapt and learns new skills as they progress. Our students need to be self-learners as well as life-long learners.

I wish you a happy journey in this ever dynamic field of teaching and hope you get some value from my advice.