In 2009, Jerry Jellig received his doctorate in organization and educational leadership from Penn. Today, Dr. Gerard Jellig works as a school superintendent, overseeing the education of thousands of urban students. In the following article, Dr. Jellig discusses educational trends that have re-shaped the traditional learning environment for students and opened up newfound opportunities in educational instruction.
There are many trends regarding educational leadership that have affected student’s overall learning experiences, whether in-person, or attending cyber high school and even the way that students digest information and learn. From technology to an increase in personalized learning, a decrease in lecturing and time in the classroom, a lot has changed in a short time, especially since 2020 according to Dr. Gerard Jellig.
Increase in Personalized Learning
Jerry Jellig explains that teachers have been increasing the amount of time they practice personalized learning with their students, or what simply in known as academic coaching. With personalized learning, teachers focus more on individual student needs rather than keeping the entire group together on the same pathway. This can help foster student academic success because each person in the classroom can move at their own pace.
A majority of the necessity for educators to delve into personalized learning was caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which forced both teachers and students to social distance and therefore eliminate face-to-face educational instruction during that time reports Jerry Jellig. Due to this, teachers were faced with the challenges of an increase in online learning.
It should be noted that websites constructed for online learning are not user-savvy for all; individual student differences do exist, and these differences can greatly affect one’s online learning experience. Therefore, Jerry Jellig says that it is vitally important that educators educate themselves about personalized learning and learn how to implement it into their online classrooms.
A rising trend in educational leadership is to focus on the unique learning styles of each of their students and to assist their students in understanding their learning style so as to better equip them for independent learning experiences. This is known as MTSS- multi-tiered system of supports. Dr. Gerard Jellig says that as teachers continue to increase their time with practicing personalized teaching, the success of their online students will increase as well.
Decreasing Number of Lectures
Another educational leadership trend that has been steadily on the rise is a decrease in teachers giving lectures claims Dr. Gerard Jellig. Collectively, students usually find lectures intellectually dulling, boring and even possibly somewhat patronizing. In scientific studies, students were instructed to participate rather than observe, boosting scores on exams by .5 the standard deviation.
Many teachers, since learning of these astounding results have edited their curriculums to better serve their students academically, lessening the number of lectures they give and increasing active involvement of their students explains Jerry Jellig. Some teachers have even gone as far as to claim giving lectures is unethical to students, with science deeming them generally ineffective.
Lessening lectures may indicate a wide variety of things for most educational leaders. Some may choose to increase physical involvement of their students during real-time teaching. Others may decide to lessen lecturing altogether without replacing it with student involvement, and may opt for other ways of teaching, such as personally assigned homework says Jerry Jellig.
In other cases, teachers may decide to alter their lectures rather than lessen the amount of time they spend doing it. Providing hands on examples, slowing down the pace, providing engaging hooks for the beginning, and breaking up the format of the lecture to include different activities such as group work may be more effective.
Increasing Technology
Technology has and always will be a very important part of teaching, serving as a communication and collaboration link between student and teacher. Dr. Gerard Jellig explains that technology is crucial to student success because it is able to facilitate improved teacher/student experiences that produce much more academically successful students.
Technology has proven to be innovative and when integrated into teaching curriculums it results in the curriculum becoming innovative as well. Teachers have been increasingly incorporating more animation, videos, music, and other media to keep students engaged and learning at quickened paces.
A few of the technology trends that have been on the rise include, eLearning, video-assisted learning, blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, and gamification. For example, many educators have turned to gamification while teaching their courses to grab student’s attention and to help them feel more “in control” of their learning experiences.
As teachers implement more technology, more and more learning options continue to be offered as it continuously evolves. Educators can utilize STEAM, virtual reality, and other technological methods to successfully teach their students not only more quickly, but more efficiently. Interestingly, Jerry Jellig says that some educators have begun to utilize social media to teach their students.
Summary
There are many educational leadership trends that have been gaining in momentum and this article only covered a few of them – indicating the exponential rate at which educational leadership trends have been changing. Lectures have been more modified to suit student needs, technology better harnessed and teaching has been personalized, making a better learning environment for all and opening up new possibilities.
