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TECHNOLOGY
INTEGRATION
FOR THE
NEW 21ST
CENTURY
LEARNER
Today’s students need educators
to re-envision the role of
technology in the classroom.
BY NANCYE BLAIR
A
t the first meeting of a The Partnership for 21st Century a static understanding. This teacher
districtwide committee on Skills addresses using technology as wants to make a real connection
integrating 21st century a tool for research, organization, with students in Hawaii, so she uses a
teaching and learning in analysis, and communication, not free video-conferencing technology
our schools, I asked the committee as the main goal of 21st century such as Skype to host live meetings
members if they thought we could learning. It is critical that we embrace between the two groups of students.
provide a 21st century education the true definition of 21st century Both sets of students benefit from
if all of our computers and devices learning to ensure that teaching the video-conferencing session and
suddenly broke. We thought about and learning is transformed. are able to learn songs and dances
it for a moment and quickly agreed in addition to basic facts about their
that you don’t need computers Cases in Point two school communities.
to provide 21st century learning So what does 21st century learning A sixth-grade teacher wants his
because the essential concepts hinge look like? How do we make sure students to examine character devel-
on teaching rather than technology our work is about student learning opment and plot in a science fiction
alone. and not the dazzle of technological novel. As an extension of traditional
resources? While these questions can class discussions of the novel, the
A Tool, Not a Solution be difficult to answer, the response teacher has his students write “fan
Our school district, like most others lies in sound student-centered fiction” that extends the original
across the nation, has invested pedagogy. Consider the following novel. Sensing his students’ pride in
heavily in providing students with examples that include, but are not their work, the teacher embarks on
technological resources. However, centered on, the use of technology. a podcast project where students
21st century learning requires more A fourth-grade teacher in create their own audio retelling of
than buying a set of computers, Vermont seeks to build her students’ their writing, complete with a music
interactive whiteboards, and tablet understanding of global awareness. soundtrack and homemade sound
computing devices. Technological While she could use a social studies effects. Using the free software pro-
devices provide tremendous benefits textbook and encyclopedia to teach gram Audacity, the students create a
to students, but they are not the her students about diverse cultures, high-quality piece of authentic work
backbone of 21st century learning. religions, and lifestyles, it would be that can be shared with the school
community. Taking the project one Moreover, though we should cer- mastered by students. Additionally, the
step further, the students’ podcast tainly strive for the ideal one-to-one vision should account for the evolution
is shared with a class in another computing environment, Sugata Mitra, of the program to sufficiently adapt to
state and the two groups of stu- professor of educational technology at the emergent needs of learners.
dents meet via Skype to discuss Newcastle University, offers an alterna- Once you have crafted a common
and critique the work. tive. Mitra shared on his blog (sugatam. vision, this team can perform a needs
A third-grade teacher seeks blogspot.com) that “groups of children assessment. Do you need to reallocate
to increase her students’ reading can learn to use computers and the or obtain more hardware resources
comprehension skills. She already Internet to answer almost any question for classrooms? Do your teachers need
has taken a “readers’ workshop” ... All they need is free access and the training in transforming 21st century
approach to studying pieces of lit- liberty to work in unsupervised groups.” technology integration? Do you need to
erature, but is still concerned that In his research, in addition to astonish- explore the array of web 2.0 resources
some students hold back in class ing information on retention rates, to determine which are best suited for
discussion sessions. In an effort to Mitra found the most effective group your educational environment? One
enhance her students’ participa- size to be four to five children and rec- need that is often overlooked is the sup-
tion, she uses Moodle, an online ommends a 1:4 ratio of computers to port of a designated person, perhaps
learning tool, to host class discus- students. a technology integration specialist or
sions of novels. By posting strate- This could mean a 75 percent savings coach, to assist teachers as they imple-
gic questions, this teacher is able in initial costs, especially if combined ment technology uses in their class-
to encourage all of her students to with technology centers and rotations rooms. The team can then analyze this
participate in a genuine study of in the classroom for independent work. information to create a unique plan
the novel. Not only does she see As an added bonus, this collaborative to address the needs identified in the
formerly reluctant students join structure is particularly conducive to assessment.
the conversations, but she also is transforming technology use from skill With the vision and plan in place,
able to focus the discussion of her drills to teaching through discovery and enlist a handful of innovative educa-
more advanced students in a way creation activities. tors to pilot the use of new technology
that was not always possible in a and methodology in their classrooms.
face-to-face class discussion. A Vision for the Future Encourage these early adopters to cre-
All of these examples are pri- Developing a progressive technology- ate a personal learning network (PLN)
marily based on good teaching. infused campus is not about money; it’s through online communities, such as
A teacher builds her students’ about mindset. To successfully imple- Classroom 2.0 (www.classroom20.com),
global awareness, another teacher ment such a program, a school must be The Educator’s PLN (edupln.ning.
engages his students in a project- led by a proactive leader who: com), or Twitter’s #EdChat discussions,
based study of literature, and a to share and develop their skills and
third teacher builds on her stu- n Makes the needs of the new 21st resources.
dents’ communication skills. Any century learner a priority; In order to propagate the vision to all
of these examples could have n Deliberately empowers teachers to staff, parents, and students, have these
been realized without the use of innovatively craft digital learning educators share their experiences and
technology, yet it played a key experiences that promote discovery expertise through school events as well
role in all three scenarios. and creation; and as staff and in-service meetings. Most
Twenty-first century learning n Establishes a shared vision and importantly, proudly broadcast the most
can be realized even if all of our unique plan for their students and valuable results of these innovators by
computers were broken, but we teachers. showcasing student gains, discoveries,
are fortunate to have these incred- and creations.
ible tools at our disposal. Our task So how can you start today? First, The new 21st century learners are
is to use these tools to deliver the assemble a team of administrators, tech- sitting in your classrooms, ready to
education our students deserve. nology specialists, educators, parents, explore, design, and create. If you pro-
and students who can collaborate to vide the resources and transform their
David Wells create a shared vision for 21st century mindsets, powerful and effective tech-
Principal learning. The vision should establish nology integration will follow.
Westford Elementary School not only ideals for technology-infusion
Westford, Vermont in the classroom, but also a set of NETS- Nancye Blair is the educational
based progressive technology objectives technology specialist at McKeel
that outline what and when technology Elementary Academy in Lakeland,
skills will be introduced, developed, and Florida.