posted on Jan, 21 2016 @ 04:19 PM
a reply to:
Antipathy17
Granted teachers need to change with technology on how they present their material. However as a retired CAD instructor who worked in the field and
also previously owned my own advertising and design studio, I presented a majority of my material in a way that would keep students attention. I used
my advertising background to create animated Power Points which incorporated humor, incorporated current music and included funny tips to help kids
remember terms or identifying hardware they needed to become familiar with so they could specify it on their drawings.
I even had an electronic scoreboard in my lab where each student had their own hand held buzzer. At the end of every two chapters of terminology, the
entire class would participate in a game of CAD Jeopardy. I would give out prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Prizes consisted of school t-shirts,
school magnets etc.... Believe it or not, I always had a handful of students who refused to participate. Some didn't bother taking it serious.
Since I taught in a lab, every student had their own computer and access to the Internet. A lot of my students loved my lab! However, here's the
depressing part...Only 40% of students in my classes were motivated to do the required technical drawings or passing their related tests. I'm sorry,
but that's a really sad perspective on today's generation. In my 22 years of teaching, the laziness and apathetic nature of students today is very
concerning. Incompetency will have a direct effect on the strength of America and it's economy.
It really comes down to this old saying when it comes to learning "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." You can have the
brightest teachers, the most up to date technology, and an environment that's absolutely fun to learn in, but if you're not motivated and your
apathetic towards education, you will simply make yourself incompetent and less likely to succeed in life.