Plain and Straight forward... by Tintswalo mkansi

What is Green Education?

When we look at green education the first thing that should come to mind is “sustainable development”. Now what this means is we use our resources in such a way that they don’t harm the environment to such an extent that it destroys it over time. But how do we come to teach the learners this. Obviously we have to give them the basic knowledge of the issues such as of pollution, sewerage problems, saving electricity just to mention a few. Also as in the 21^st century the learners should also research these issues so that they may see the intensity of the problems. But information is not enough in order to have a green environment but the implementation thereof. It’s about putting the theory into practice on how to sustain our environment for example, with saving water don’t keep the tap running unnecessary, and by learning this in turn can benefit the community because these learners may go home and educate the community on how to conserve water and will become a habit that slowly but surely our water will be conserved and educating the elders on what to do and what not to do as the learners have a big influence on their community.

How do we now define a “Teacher”?

“Teacher- from primary role as a dispenser of information to orchestrator of learning and helping students turn information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom,” (Fessler, 2011:12).

Now days the approach has changed from a teacher –centred approach to a student-centred approach meaning that the teachers need to adapt to this. So the characteristics of how we define a teacher is as follows:

v  Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity so that they may be the best that they can be.

v  Activate students to maximize the potential of their formal and informal learning experiences.

v  Facilitate learning in a variety of ways best possible to suit the learners.

v  Using digital tools such as computers to improve student engagement and achievement.

v  Working with the students to create new and exciting learning opportunities.

v  Be lifelong learners and ready to adapt to change.

v  Be global educators

How do we now define a “Learner?”

The following characteristics will define the perfect 21^st century learner (Certiport, http://www.certiport.org/docs/IEAB_Whitepaper040808.pdf):

v  They like to be in control

v  They like choices

v  They are inclusive in all that they do

v  They are sociable and group orientated

v  They are users of digital technology

v  They are different in the way that they think

v  They like to take risks

Comment on if you agree or disagree on these characteristics????

Global Classroom

Isn’t it so amazing how technology has advanced in so many different ways? From the way we access information and how we use it. A global classroom can be seen as the way in which the education has evolved from teaching in classrooms to receiving your lectures via the internet in the comfort of your own home without even leaving your home. This in a way enables the learners from all around the world to study at any tertiary institution that they want without being present in that particular country, the way that the costs will be less for accommodation and all other expenses associated with studying.  This also involves the communicating with one another from across the borders like for example Skype, where you are able to communicate with family or friends even though you are far way from each other. With the lectures on the internet this enables all the learners across the world to also be able to interact with one another and share their own ideas and views, and this is to the advantage that not all people are the same and we are able to learn from the different views therefore getting a global perspective of everything. What do you think about the global classroom?