21st Century Classroom

My vision for the Cobb County School System is to move from 20th century methods of classroom learning, to using the technical tools available for the 21st century classroom, in order to prepare our student’s for higher education or vocational training. The school system is now in the process of preparing our next generation of CEO’s, doctors, scientist’s, engineers, Government leaders, and entrepreneurs and we must equip them for this future.

There are three entities involved in the learning process:

  • The Student
    Learning should be presented in a challenging way that inspires the student to achieve, hold their interest, and in a way that is enjoyable. Students should be in a challenging environment with an understandable code of discipline.
  • The Teachers and Administrators
    These are the people who made a commitment and are dedicated to the learning process for our students. Their skills and interaction with both the student and parent is essential to the success of the student. Their expected product is a student who is the best educated which is demonstrated not only by test scores, but by their character, their commitment, the social interaction they have with their peers, relatives, society, and their inspiration to advance themselves in the future.
  • The stakeholders (parents and homeowners)
    Every parent wants a well-educated, good character, and socially interaction student. We in the East Cobb area have had the fortune of having the best that the county School system had to offer and it has met the expectation of the parents and stakeholders. As Stakeholders we should expect this level to continue and to improve. As a result, we as Stakeholders see the value of the best education the County provides in the value of our homes.

    The high standards that parents have come to expect in the East Cobb area has been a major attraction to new homeowners and must be maintained.

The objective and desire of each of these entities is to provide the best education for each student via the learning process that is available today and in the future. This process involves not only conveyance of knowledge, but also the process of learning. Students must develop their own skills of learning to think logically and deductively in a problem-solving environment, which also includes moral values and social interaction.

So what does a 21st century classroom mean?

  • Using the computer as a teaching tool. Usually the controlling tool for peripheral tools.
  • Use of electronic smart boards to illustrate, visualize, and archive presentations and demonstrations. These can be archived for review and re-use. No longer a need to re-invent the wheel each year, which would allow the teacher to prepare for more in-depth teaching.
  • Using cameras and overhead projectors to present visualization
  • Using the Internet to do research and presentations
  • Interact with students via Intranet on various subjects
  • Using the Internet to communicate with parents on student progress. We live in a society that demands instant satisfaction, so with the Internet and software platforms that can be implemented, student, teachers, and parents can monitor the learning progress of each student in almost real-time.
  • Using available software that adds visualization to the subject being taught. We know that TV, visuals on the Internet, and computerized games has captured the minds of our youth. In some cases students may spend more time on You Tube or My Face than they do in the classroom, which indicates that visualization is a vital and effective tool for the classroom.

How the basics never change

  • Reading, writing, and arithmetic have always been the backbone of our education, but science, history, character (social development), and physical development are just as important. As more knowledge and societal changes take place, we must use 21st century tools to convey the message to the student that is concise, comprehensible, and creates a desire to learn.

So what is holding back the 21st classroom?

  • Money! The school system must be focused on allocating funds that will provide rapid implementation of theses 21st century tools and environments.
  • Retraining – Teachers and Administrators must be trained to use the available tools effectively. I am old enough to remember the typewriter and carbon paper, and later the memory typewriter, and then the Xerox machine. These were great improvements over the earlier years of pen and ink. Then came computers and the Internet, which provided us with Word Processors, spreadsheets, and electronic presentations such as PowerPoint. The point to be made is once we learned to use the memory typewriter we did not want to go back to the old type of typewriter and once we learned how to use a Word Processor, no one wanted to use a typewriter of any type. The reason was that the Word Processor offered so many features that were so cumbersome in the past, such as “cut & paste”, “spell check”, integrated charts and graphs, and a multitude of fonts, that putting words in print was so much easier and productive. The same progression must take place in the teaching process.
  • Discarding the concept of “one size fits all”. We have been told for many years that if we reduce class size, then education will improve. If this concept is true then where are the results? In the 21st century classroom, size will be relevant to the subject being taught. In some cases a very small number of students and in others a large number of students. We need to recognize that our colleges have already implemented this concept.
  • Failure to communicate to the Stakeholders of what the 21st century class would be like and what metrics (measurements) would be applied to gauge progress.

So how do we get to the 21st century classroom?

  • Leadership – The School Board must recognize that teaching basics and core subjects do not change, but the process must move from the 20th century to the 21st century using 21st century tools. This will be my major goal if elected.
  • Communications – The School Board must be able to formulate a plan (not an experimentation) showing the steps that are to be taken with timelines to implement the 21st century classroom and present this plan to the Stakeholders in a manner that can be easily comprehended. Stakeholder acceptance is essential. The school system and community must work as a team.
  • Accountability – The School Board must have constant oversight of a transition of this magnitude and keep the Stakeholders constantly informed of progress made.