Looking Ahead
Honor Your Learner Experience
We need to revolutionize the ways we work, the ways we teach and the ways we learn. Not simply reform the old model, but transform public education into a new, global, innovating enterprise that becomes the engine for a revitalized economy. To accomplish this, we need to address the disconnect between using technology in focused meaningful ways, as opposed to using it just because we can. We need to design lessons that connect technology to lessons seamlessly and incidentally. When designed well, technology-infused instruction is a naturally occurring series of learning opportunities in the classroom. A good friend is fond of saying, “the map in your hand should match the view on the ground.” Instruction is that map, and your classroom is learning’s ground zero.
Educators have been using technologies in classrooms for centuries, and while the technologies change over time, successful teaching and learning have not. Simply put, it’s not about the technology. Identify first the ways we want to reach students and the ways in which we want them to demonstrate understanding, and the appropriate technologies will make themselves evident. Becoming preoccupied with the latest gadgets, bells and