Changes in the 21st Century Classroom

As we have recently witnessed the transfer into a new millenium, we have also witnessed great technological advances. Such advances have changed the world that today's youth are growing up in, yet our educational system has done little to change along with them. Learners today find themselves in schools teaching outdated curriculums in styles unfamiliar to their lives. In order to effectively teach these learners, much change is needed within the system. Today's classroom is supposed to be training these students for the working environment they will later partake in, yet the classroom is still training for the world of the 20th century. Textbooks, teacher-centered classrooms, objective testing that simply assesses memorization and recall - are all a thing of yesterday's classroom. The classroom of today emphasises performance-based assessment, classrooms revolving around learners, and technology in all kinds. Today's teachers need to realize this new educational climate and adapt with the times otherwise it will be the students who pay the price. If curriculums, teaching behavior, and technology don't all work in chorus for today's students, students will be losing more than just interest in a subject.