What to teach and how to teach it are two subjects that have filled – and continue to fill - volumes of research journals and books while also spurring passionate conversations. And rightfully so for content and instructional strategies are what teaching and learning are essentially made of. Included in these ever-present and continuing debates are of course the use and teaching of technology in the classroom. Gauging from what has been written on the subject as well as personal conversations, new and experienced teachers alike find themselves wrestling with a full scope of questions: How much is technology is enough? What about the challenge of providing all students with equal access? Should handwriting and visits to the library take a seat in favour of raising tech-savvy children? These are not new concerns. Judging from the chapters written by Smith & Broom (2003) and also Chipman (2003) for almost three decades now, none of these questions have been answered definitively. On the contrary, educators, administrators and even parents continue to grapple with the same challenges in an effort to capitalize on the full range of opportunities posed by technology use in the classroom. What is a teacher then to do? While researching a paper on social reconstructionism, I came upon an eye-opening documentary from the Pearson Foundation (yes, on YouTube!) Learning to change, changing to learn. In interviewing the who’s who of information technology in the classroom, the producers of this short documentary makes the
I think it's fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we've ever created. They're tools of communication; they're tools of creativity,
following points: Technology is not a choice anymore;
and they can be shaped by their
Children are living in a different space where Twitter,
user.
Facebook and texting rule; The careers they are preparing for do not call for the traditional “right
Bill Gates (Philanthropist, Microsoft chairman)
answer vending machine approach”, and students need a new 21st century skill set which includes the ability to synthesise, collaborate and problem-solve. As Steve Heppell (who Microsoft named in 2006 as Europe's leading online education expert) says in Pearson piece: It is a brave new world where the only solution is embracing all the new possibilities offered by technology. In a similar documentary Greg Whitby (also on YouTube!), Executive Director of Schools of the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta in New South Wales, Australia, even calls for a new 20 | P a g e