How is the role of the teacher and learner changing in the 21st Century?

       Over the last 60 years, our society and consequently, our education system has undergone a major paradigm shift.  Sixty years ago, society was in the midst of the industrial age where production, efficiency, and growth in manufacturing provided the backbone for our economic system.  As such, our education system was modelled in very much the same light.  Filling a classroom with several students, and teaching them what they need to know, in the most efficient means possible, was meant to help them become independent, hard working, and self sufficient citizens.
    
      Since the turn into the 21st century, society has evolved from the industrial age into the age of communication.  Knowledge and learning is literally at the touch of a person's finger tips, and anything a person needs to know can simply be discovered in seconds through the use of technology and computers.  Easier access to information has allowed our society to share ideas and innovation more easily, and as such, has opened up the way we see the world to new ideals and ways of thinking and doing things.

      It is important that our education system and the classroom addresses this shift within society.  The classroom is no longer viewed in terms of its productivity and its capacity to turn out the educated learner, but rather the shift has occurred to view the student as a differentiated learner, capable of many things if given the forum to display his or her learning and creativity.  Technology has given the learner the ability to do this, not just by accessing information quickly, but also by allowing the learner to display his or her ideas, thoughts, abilities, and learning in a multitude of new and innovative ways.

      The teacher has consequently become less of an instructor and more of a facilitator within the classroom.  The role of the teacher is meant to guide the learner, to use technology and access information safely, while allowing the student to display new learning, with a focus on what the student knows rather than what the student does not know.  This has allowed the learner to discover new learning more freely, independently, and through a means that works for them, rather than the student being told what he or she needs to know, and all students being taught in the same way.

      It is important as educators that we embrace this paradigm shift, so we are able to give our students and learners a more richer and fulfilling educational experience.