DFER for Teachers – No Substitute for an Excellent Teacher

The editors of Education Week recently published a special report and a series of articles exploring the rise of multimedia use in schools entitled “Multimedia Transformation.” From digitalized historical documents, to 3-D modeling of science concepts, to interactive whiteboards, technology is an ever-increasing presence in education. For today’s students, familiarity with technology is undeniably essential for most academic and career goals, and multimedia tools should be incorporated into schools to better prepare students for their futures. That being said, state-of-the-art technology is the most beneficial to students when it is in the hands of skilled and well-trained educators. 

 

Interactive whiteboards, for example, can provide a teacher with the opportunity to more accurately assess the pace of students’ learning and adjust instruction to better meet students’ needs. But this can only happen if the teacher possesses the requisite knowledge and skills to appropriately differentiate instruction. Likewise, creating 3-D models of newly discovered extinct fish can help students better understand biology and evolution concepts, but a talented and knowledgeable instructor is needed to provide critical background information and to provide the kind of real-time feedback that will develop students’ critical thinking skills.