inquiry-based classrooms where students should be constructing knowledge instead of having teachers hand it to them.

How Can Technology Transform Education ?

While life outside our schools has changed dramatically over the past century, we cling to an early industrialized classroom model that often fails to encourage collaboration, innovation, a global work ethic, or critical problem-solving skills. November, A. (2012). Who Owns the Learning? : Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age. Bloomington, IN, USA: Solution Tree Press. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com

As the amount of information available to us explodes, as well as our access to it, what matters is not what students know but how they acquire that knowledge and what they can do with it.

Pahomov, L. (2014). Authentic Learning in the Digital Age : Engaging Students Through Inquiry. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.

If teachers or schools want to, they can use technology to prop up the same old curriculum and policies. (A multiple-choice exam given on a laptop is still just a multiple-choice exam.) Usually this lack of transformation is due to a lack of enthusiasm for innovation on the part of the educators

As educators, we need to avoid delivering lectures and give students some kind of choice in their assignments, favoring projects and papers over tests and quizzes. We need to create opportunities for students to teach and learn from each other. Technology is the means to this end.

Pahomov, L. (2014). Authentic Learning in the Digital Age : Engaging Students Through Inquiry. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.

SKILLS THAT TECHNOLOGY ENCOURAGES:

Inquiry

Research

Collaboration

Presentation

Reflection

We need to provide inquiry-based classrooms where students should be constructing knowledge instead of having teachers hand it to them.

Pahomov, L. (2014). Authentic Learning in the Digital Age : Engaging Students Through Inquiry. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.

BENEFITS OF TECHNOLOGY FOR THE STUDENT:

Technology makes it simple for students to reach out to the larger world.Students are already exploring and benefiting from the transformative properties of technology as they use it outside of the classroom.Students are often ahead of the game when it comes to personalizing their own learningBy leveraging the internet as a showcase space, especially by plugging into existing venues for written and multimedia work, students experience the pride of being professional and get the benefit of outside feedback.The school is somewhere they want to be. Just as adults enjoy a work environment that engages and challenges them, students will respond to a school that values their individual contribution to their learning.Technologyand, in particular, access to the Internetallows learning to become personalized. It allows for infinite possibilities for learning inside a single classroom. In a classroom with integrated technology access to the Internet gives students the flexibility to pursue their own personal interests.

It is important to note that the teachers voice, when filtered through technology, does not automatically have more weight; suddenly the teacher is just another commenter on the discussion thread, or another face in the video chat. This reality certainly requires a shift in thinking on the part of educators, but the increase in student voice makes the transition worthwhile.

ISTE Standard for Students 1: Creativity and InnovationStudents demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

Constant access to resources and communities means more time to actually practice and create instead of slowly tracking down basic information.Pahomov, L. (2014). Authentic Learning in the Digital Age : Engaging Students Through Inquiry. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.

According to the Pew Research Center, teens have unprecedented access to tech tools. In 2012, 93 percent had a computer at home and 37 percent had their own smart phone (Madden, Lenhart, Duggan, Cortesi, & Gasser, 2013).

Benefits for Teachers:Students own the learningStudents work harder than the teacherThe teacher no longer has to serve as the sole source of knowledge. The teacher must now aid and assist students in their own quest for knowledgeImmediate feedbackAllows for differentiationMakes communication with both students and parents more efficient

November, A. (2012). Who Owns the Learning? : Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age. Bloomington, IN, USA: Solution Tree Press. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com

Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Duggan, M., Cortesi, S., & Gasser, U. (2013, March 13). Teens and technology2013. Pew Research Center and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Available: http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media//Files/Reports/2013/PIP_TeensandTechnology2013.pdf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N3drjH856QLearning - Childhood in the Digital Age (#5/5)

Instead of a rigid set of rules for implementation, classrooms need a framework that is solid in its approach toward teaching and learning but leaves room for educators to adapt technology to their subject area and teaching style. This kind of framework both maximizes the transformative properties of technology and minimizes its potential misuse.

How WE can use technology meaningfully, to support a personalized-inquiry curriculum:Start SIMPLE:

lnstead of paper agenda books, use online calendars and to-do lists, with reminders and organizers built in. Teachers can benefit from this transition not only for their own lives, but also for the management of their classrooms.-No more making copies-no more losing papers-alleviate the stress of providing feedback (typing faster than writing)-online grades/progress

As more powerful digital tools become available for free or little cost, the opportunities for our students to apply these skills will only continue to multiplyNovember, A. (2012). Who Owns the Learning? : Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age. Bloomington, IN, USA: Solution Tree Press. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com

REFERENCES

Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Duggan, M., Cortesi, S., & Gasser, U. (2013, March 13). Teens and technology2013. Pew Research Center and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Available: http://www.pewinternet.org/files/oldmedia//Files/Reports/2013/PIP_TeensandTechnology2013.pdf.

November, A. (2012). Who Owns the Learning? : Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age. Bloomington, IN, USA: Solution Tree Press. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com

Pahomov, L. (2014). Authentic Learning in the Digital Age : Engaging Students Through Inquiry. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD