The Role of the Teacher in the Age of Google

Session 3

Lisa Nielsen, Eileen Lennon, Jackie Patanio, Darlynn Alfalla — NYC Schools

Room 1069

“You don’t need to teach us. That’s what Google is for.” That was the message a student shared with a surprised audience of educators during a popular technology conference. They went on to say, “If I can't figure something out I prefer to watch a YouTube video or text a friend rather than ask a teacher.” The other students in the room nodded their heads in agreement. Many teachers understand this is how today’s students prefer to learn. When we stop banning and fighting technology and start to embrace the connected classroom, a shift in teaching practice certainly must follow. What does that look like? How has the role of teaching, learning, and professional learning for teachers changed in the age of Google. In this session two classroom teachers and two administrators will discuss some of the shifts they’ve seen and then discuss with participants how they have or can embrace new roles for modern teaching.

Conversational Practice

This session uses the What? So What? Now What? protocol. The whole group will discuss the “What?” which is how students prefer to learn. Then they’ll discuss “So What?” and think of some new roles of teachers today. Next the room will break into pairs or groups to look at each of the various roles and elaborate on what each role looks like from the perspective of student, teacher, and learning environment. These will be collected on one Padlet. The participants will reconvene and then each group will share what they came up with and respond to feedback.