A teacher must be a true “netizen,” too

Today’s child is SMART – Systematic, Meticulous, Active, Realistic and Tactful. He involves himself in the learning

process only when told something that he did not know earlier. Today’s generation is much more aware and alert, and much more informed than earlier generations. And there lies the need for the teacher today is to be a 21st century learner.

Often, a student is told things that he/she already knows – from parents, friends, online tutorials, search engines. They have access to so many sources of information, especially with the advent of the Internet. They may say: “Sir/ Madam, it is already in book. Please tell us something new.”

The teachers of today must be interesting and informed with the march of time. Technology is progressing rapidly, and a teacher must keep abreast of the developments. A teacher must also be a true “netizen,” and so must:

• Have a Web site
• Share URL’s with the children
• Explore learning through 24/7 availability
• Be open to learning
• Respect the knowledge of her students – whatever they know already.
• Explore the best the first time every time

A good teacher:

• Must be socially networked
• Must have blogs
• Must have a Web site
• Must have published documents
• Must share YouTube videos of his own

The teacher must share the URL’s as notes online. She must adopt learning as a module rather than classroom-based theory or standards. She must strive to make education a learning experience and share the techniques that her students use.

Words like bandwidth, blog, blogger, Bluetooth, broadband and browser must become part of her vocabulary, too, just like they are part of the vocabulary of her students.

This will certainly generate fun in learning. The ultimate aim is to make them learn, not just sit remain passive recipients of information.

The teacher must go beyond the chalk and board, and encourage his students to create, involve and explore through ICT, novel ways of understanding the subject further.

The teacher, the educator, should use technology. It will make the teaching/ learning process easy, interesting and result-oriented.