Traditional and Technological, Room for Both

In the recent edition of Education Update, the official newsletter of ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development), the case was made to increase the amount of on-line and virtual learning for students. There is no doubt that the virtual world is changing how we teach and how students learn. The traditional and stereotypical picture of a teacher standing in front of the classroom talking for extended periods of time has long been replaced with a teacher as a facilitator, coach, guide, and technology guru.

While there is definitely an important place for teaching and learning using technology, we should never underestimate the importance of a teacher interacting and teaching on an hour to hour basis. Woodland has long valued the importance of the teacher to student relationship but has also looked for new and creative ways to incorporate technology into the teaching and learning process. Two examples of how technology has changed teaching and learning for Woodland students are the incorporation of Mathletics as a summer math review and the addition of Children’s Progress, an on-line formative assessment tool for our Senior Kindergarten through second grade students. At Woodland we seek to balance the traditional with the innovative. We believe that there is a place for both in successful twenty-first century schools.   

Adam Moore, Head of School