Pixel International Conferences

Over the past few decades (thanks largely to improvements in brain-imaging technology) research in the fields of neuroscience and education psychology have made various new insights into how our brains function and how we best learn. Coinciding with this, Internet technologies have drastically changed our relationship with information. In the past, students came to school mainly to gain access to knowledge, yet today’s students have more access to information on their smartphones than they can get from any textbook, library, or teacher. Having been immersed most of their lives with Internet technologies, the way students think, behave, interact and learn has undergone radical changes, and is vastly different from how it was in the past. Perhaps most significantly, these Internet technologies are leading to a fluid, constantly-evolving job market in which much of what students will need to know, they will need to learn on their own after they leave our classrooms.

Thus today’s students have an overabundance of information, but aren’t proficient at understanding and using it. The ability to be able to fluently analyze, interpret and manipulate information has become so much more critical in both the classroom and the business world. Thus, in the face of all these changes we teachers need to rethink our concept of the ideal classroom, lesson, and our own roles as teachers. Going forward the main value of teachers won’t be (just) knowledge base, but rather the ability to skillfully design and customize learning environments to our unique student body, using ‘21^st century skills’ (critical thinking, self-efficacy, time management and study habits) to help them become flexible and adaptable lifelong learners.

This presentation will introduce key findings in educational psychology, neuroscience, classroom management and technology-use, and provide practical tips to aid in adapting and evolving our teaching pedagogy to better fit with this new age of student and internet technologies.

Keywords: Education Psychology, Neuroscience, Technology, Classroom Management, 21^st Century Skills, Critical Thinking