Role of Teacher and Student in 1:1

Video Transcription

Hello, and thank you for joining me today to discuss the role of teacher and student in one-to-one learning environments. Remember, this course is all about you, the learner. So please feel free to fast forward, rewind, pause, or use any of the information from this tutorial to better help you in your own classroom.

By the end of today's tutorial, we'll be able to answer, what is the role of the teacher in a one-to-one learning environment? What is the role of the student in a one-to-one learning environment? And how are these roles different than in a traditional classroom?

Quickly, let's review one-to-one learning environment. This is when the learning is taking place in a traditional classroom, but there's one device for every student. The devices can be provided by the school or by the parents. An always, learning environment allows students to take devices home so that they're always learning, and a classroom where the students do not take computers at home is considered blended, but is not considered a one-to-one learning environment.

So what exactly is a teacher's role in a one-to-one learning environment? A teacher acts as a coach or tutor, and they also encourage and celebrate the students. The teacher can facilitate deep learning, discussion, and collaboration. And they can design problem-based activities and opportunities for extension of learning.

They can instruct content and foundational skills and analyze data to make instructional decisions. They can coordinate cooperative grouping and differentiate and personalize learning. They can also assess and provide actionable feedback. Teachers must understand the technology that the students will be using.

Learning can occur ahead of time with the students, or at times, from the students. There is also a focus on foundational skills, and problem solving, and higher order thinking skills. A one-to-one classroom has decreased time and teacher-centered lecture-based activities.

So what's the student's role on a one-to-one classroom? Well, a student can move at his or her own pace. They can also increase the self-initiation and ownership of learning. They can collaborate with one another or with the teacher, and they can actively participate in class. The student also takes on the role of problem solver, and creator, and they're more engaged in their own learning because they're using a device that they're excited about and familiar with.

So how is this different than in a traditional classroom? Teachers do not have the ability, in a traditional classroom, to analyze student assessment data in real time, which means there's a delay in immediate shifts in instruction. Another limitation in a traditional classroom is that a teacher may be the only source of content knowledge, whereas in a one-to-one classroom, the teacher can share their content knowledge information, and then students can reinforce it by researching other experts online.

In the traditional classroom, the students are restricted by the available resources, but with a one-to-one device, the resources are unlimited. And in a traditional classroom, teachers may have fewer opportunities to support learning into online platforms while working in smaller group settings. A one-to-one classroom provides flexibility in design.

Let's look at some examples of schools that have successfully used blended learning and the one-to-one classroom. These are examples of schools from New Hampshire who are successfully integrating technology into their learning environment. The first school is the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School, and this is a school that uses a la carte, enriched, blended learning. Student's progress at their own pace, and then there's competency assessments that requires students to demonstrate mastery of each concept. So we're checking for mastery of concepts and competency, but the time limit is based on each student.

Then, we have the North County Charter School. And this is an alternative high school that works with high-risk and dropout students, and it's also a competency-based environment, which means it's not moving through a traditional time-based environment. And students choose their pace and what they want to study on what day. And they're doing their learning in an online classroom, mostly. There are traditional teachers in the building who monitor the students and who also offer smaller offline classes as additional resources.

Then we have the Milan Village Elementary School. This school was once a failing school that needed some improvement. And they moved to station rotations. And students progress at a flexible pace while accessing content in a blended learning environment.

Starting in second grade, every student at the school has his or her own computer. They alternate between offline and online learning. For the online learning portion, teachers do assign the online assignments based on students progress and their needs.

Then we have the Windham High School. They are still on a time-based learning environment. They're not competency-based yet, but they're moving towards that. In this school, teachers produce video content that feature various forms of instruction for the different learning styles. So this is just a way that they work on differentiated instruction.

And Oyster River High School is our last example. This is a school that is also still timed-based and traditional, but some teachers are using technology to help with the learning process. And one such teacher assigns technology-based projects based on progression of the student, and then the student and the teacher, together, are able to assess whether or not the student needs help. Maybe they need to review that concept or maybe they're ready to move forward.

Let's reflect. What are some challenges you might experience in the new role of teacher in a one-to-one classroom? What are some challenges your students might face in their new role in a one-to-one classroom?

Today, we were able to answer what the role is of a teacher in a one-to-one learning environment and what the role is of the student in a one-to-one learning environment. We were also able to discuss how the roles are different than that of a traditional classroom. To dive a little deeper and learn how to apply this information, be sure to check out the additional resources section associated with this video. This is where you'll find links targeted toward helping you discover more ways to apply this course material. Thank you for joining me, and happy teaching.