The teacher as teaching aid

It is widely known that being a teacher encompasses a variety of roles that he or she needs to fulfil in the classroom. According to the author Jeremy Harmer (2007), there is a distinction between the different roles, among which we can find a "controller", an "organiser" more oriented to classroom management, or we can find an "assessor" giving feedback to the students on their performances. Furthermore, we can see the teacher as a provider of different materials that are used in the lesson, usually being a creator him/ herself. There are occasions when the books are not enough or suitable for the group of students they are intended to. This is when the teacher has to become a resource him/herself so as to create specific materials that satisfy his/her students' needs. The teacher will have to bear in mind different aspects at the moment of creating material for the students, such as the context in which the lesson will be situated, the resources available in the school, the diversity within the group of students and now the implementation of technology in the classroom. 
The author Prensky also talks about the roles of the teacher in the 21st century and how they have changed since the appearance of technology.
In the following video the author explains this change more in detail. 

In order to include the students’ interest in the creation of materials it is important for teachers to get familiarized with technology, which is, nowadays, a useful tool students have at their disposal to help them to learn. The author Prensky (2001) distinguishes between two categories among the users of technology: Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants. Within the former we can place our students who were born in the digital era and are well acquainted with the use of technology. The later are those who had to learn how to use technology in order to get updated and take advantage from it. We can say many teachers are within the second category since either not all of them had the opportunity to access  the benefits technology provides or they refuse to become part of this technological era. However, we highlight the importance technology has at the moment of designing our own materials when they appeal to students’ interest and needs.

Prensky, Marc (2001) "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants"

As a conclusion, we can say that as our students are in a continual evolution, teachers need to constantly re-adapt their methods to suit their students needs. It is no longer a question of whether to implement adjustments to the traditional methods but of how to do it in order to bring to lessons to life. 

References:

Harmer, J. (2007) "The Practice of English Language Teaching". Pearson Education Limited.

Prensky, M. (2001) "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants".