New Classroom Culture
One of the first major changes that is making ground in college and K-12 classrooms is how faculty view and utilize technology. Sean Brown, Head of Corporate Sales Strategy for Sonic Foundry for Sonic Foundry, says that there is less resistance towards technology – he says faculty members are more tech-savvy, especially with teaching media, like video.
Brown says any residual resistance in the classroom is used more constructively, and predicts this trend to continue years from now. This includes instructors who channel their resistance positively, such as deciding whether or not a certain technology will support their teaching strategy.
He also says it’s not just the older, more “traditional” instructors reacting like this – it’s instructors of all ages. For example, younger college professors may decide to pass on using video in their classroom if a certain video solution doesn’t fit with the content they’re teaching.
“In 2017, the institution is giving these tools to faculty to choose when to use it and where and how they wish; some do it, and some don’t,” Brown says. “It might be a person nearing retirement, and they might say, ‘this [solution] is the greatest thing ever, I never do a lecture that I don’t record, it allows me to be more efficient, etc.’ And then there’s the youngest of faculty who are like, ‘yeah, I haven’t found a place for it in how I’m teaching these small groups, so I don’t use it, and I don’t feel bad about not using it.’…there’s no demographic anymore that is intensely resisting.”
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