What does it take to be an effective teacher in the year 2010 and beyond?
Effective teaching is “...best estimated in relation to your own goals of teaching” (Atkins & Brown , 1990, p. 4), which should be to optimise student learning. However, the concept is highly personal in that “...what counts as effective in one context may not be effective in another...” (Atkins & Brown, 1998, p.4), inferring that not all teachers concur on effective teaching strategies, nor is each strategy effective for each class/student. Using mixed presentational modes that cater to a diversity of Multiple Intelligences (Marsh, 2004), Smith, Smith, Sonneveld, Sonter and Suckling (2009) have presented a website outlining several effective teaching strategies that can be adopted within the classroom to optimise student learning. Not only does the website educate teachers, and potential teachers, on strategies that could optimise learning and assist in the development towards becoming an effective teacher, it also supports the importance of catering towards 21st Century learners by acknowledging the prevalence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) within society and the fact that students nowadays learn differently to students/teachers in the past (Steer, 2007).
