Chapter 12: Information Technology in Support of Student-Centered Learning 

               
Traditonal Classroom  

         From the traditional teacher-learning, the teacher stands in front of the very well arranged student chairs. This situation is purposed to maintain classroom discipline and also to allow the teacher to control classroom activities through teacher-led discussions.

     However, after spending so much time with the discussion that students get restless, they start talking to each other or simply stare away to lack of attention. Often enough, the teacher has to also manage these kinds of misbehaviour. One way of preventing this situation is to individually give them worksheets for them to work on.



The SCL Classroom   

       Desiring to gain effectiveness, efficiency and economy in administration and instruction, schools in these developed economies have also adopted the supports of ICTs. Their students have now become active not passive learners, who can interact with other learners, demonstrating independence and self-awareness in the learning process.
      Generally the new school classroom environment is characterized by student individually or in groups. They perform computer word processing for text or graph presentation, prepare power-point presentation, search for information on the Internet, brainstorm on ideas, problems and project plans and as needed, the teacher facilitating instruction, also giving individualized instruction to serve individual needs.

REFLECTION:

 (a.) As we all know, in the traditional classroom, a teacher can discipline and manage his/her students. The teacher in that has always the first and final say in the lesson. But the difference is that in the traditional classroom, a student can sometimes feel intimidated and bored since it is always the voice of the teacher who echoes most of the time and leads the discussion. While in a SCL environment, it gives students the venue to interact with each other, be motivated as everyone can participate and enjoy. It can be as noisy as it is, but it gives the students independence and self-awareness. It does not mean that in a SCL, the teacher can no longer do classroom management. The teacher still is the one more knowledgeable than his/her students, but he do not anymore act as the teacher who do talking most of the times, but he/she is now a facilitator, open to ideas, problems and resolutions from his/her students.

 (b.)   Student-centered learning moves students from passive receivers of information to active participants in their own discovery process. What students learn, how they learn it and how their learning is assessed are all driven by each individual student’s needs and abilities.
    Also, through this SCL, students solve problems, answer questions, formulate questions of their own, discuss, explain, debate, or brainstorm during class. They work in teams on problems and projects under conditions that assure both positive interdependence and individual accountability and with this students are first presented with challenges (questions or problems) and learn the course material in the context of addressing the challenges.