Vision
We live and work in a digital world and education must grow to reflect that reality. Digital technology affects how we live, work and play. As digital natives, our students embody that new change. As digital citizens, we must equip and empower our students with the skills and knowledge to thrive in the digital age.
Empowering students for the jobs of the future requires a new way of thinking about teaching and learning. Educators need to embrace authentic digital age learning models to reach the students of today. Students need to become active participants in their education. They need to feel engaged and connected to their assignments. Students and educators need to harness the power of collaborative Web 2.0 tools and software to work together to solve real-world problems. Constructivist student centered learning activities are the best way to reach the digital age learner and engage them in a new and exciting way.
In order to achieve a truly student centered constructivist learning environment; educators need to change the way they view teaching and learning. As Alison King famously said teachers need to change from being, “The sage on the stage to the guide on the side.” Teachers need to embrace new styles of learning experiences by working with instructional specialist and utilizing new digital age strategies for teaching like BYOD, flipped and blended learning.
As we educate our students and equip them with the skills of tomorrow, we must remember to embrace student diversity. We must leverage technology to engage and empower diverse student populations. Using digital age tools and initiatives, we can include all students in the digital age student centered learning environment. Assistive technology along with 1:1 initiates and collaborative software can help to empower students that normally may have experienced difficulty feeling included in the learning experience. Distance learning and the flipped classroom model can drastically alter the traditional environment. These models help to break down the walls of the traditional classroom and bring in a world of possibilities. By utilizing these models students no longer see themselves as citizens of their school, but world citizens, working together to engage in authentic real-world problem solving learning experiences.
It is the role of the instructional technology specialist to empower teachers to make the vision of instructional technology education a reality. Only through creating real and authentic relationships with teachers, can change truly occur. It is the role of instructional specialist to actively engage in the learning community and create authentic peer relationships. The teacher and instructional specialist must work together, collaborating and empowering each other to achieve their true potential (Knight, 2007). In order for real change to work, the relationship has to be one of collaboration and mutual respect. No one person can be seen as greater than the other, both are working together to create real and positive change.
Creating partnerships and authentic learning experiences is not enough, to drive the digital age classroom. The instructional technology specialists must embrace data and the data team process to bring about real and substantive changes in schools. The instructional technology specialist must be actively involved in the data team process. All stakeholders must look at “data” as not just test scores on high-stakes testing, but as an accurate picture of where the school is and where it is going (Boudett, Murnane, 2015). Data is more than just test scores, data can be used to guide instruction, initiatives and determine the direction of policies and programs.
Technology is constantly changing and as educators, we must all work together and embrace the digital age for the betterment of students. Only when teachers, instructional specialist, administrators, building staff and community come together, can real positive change take place. Working together we must prepare out students for the jobs skills of tomorrow. As Fisch and MeLeod (2013) stated in their Did you know research video, “We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist . . . using technologies that haven’t been invented . . . in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.”
References
Boudett, K. P., City, E. A., & Murnane, R. J. (2013). Data wise: a step-by-step guide to using assessment results to improve teaching and learning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Fisch, K., McLeod, S., & Brenman, J. (2013, March 14). Did You Know Research _ Design by Karl Fisch Scott McLeod _ Jeff Brenman 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1LiJuUGpyY
Knight, J. (2007). Instructional coaching: A partnership approach to improving instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
King, Alison. (1993). From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side. College Teaching, 41(1), 30-35. doi:10.1080/87567555.1993.9926781
Empowering students for the jobs of the future requires a new way of thinking about teaching and learning. Educators need to embrace authentic digital age learning models to reach the students of today. Students need to become active participants in their education. They need to feel engaged and connected to their assignments. Students and educators need to harness the power of collaborative Web 2.0 tools and software to work together to solve real-world problems. Constructivist student centered learning activities are the best way to reach the digital age learner and engage them in a new and exciting way.
In order to achieve a truly student centered constructivist learning environment; educators need to change the way they view teaching and learning. As Alison King famously said teachers need to change from being, “The sage on the stage to the guide on the side.” Teachers need to embrace new styles of learning experiences by working with instructional specialist and utilizing new digital age strategies for teaching like BYOD, flipped and blended learning.
As we educate our students and equip them with the skills of tomorrow, we must remember to embrace student diversity. We must leverage technology to engage and empower diverse student populations. Using digital age tools and initiatives, we can include all students in the digital age student centered learning environment. Assistive technology along with 1:1 initiates and collaborative software can help to empower students that normally may have experienced difficulty feeling included in the learning experience. Distance learning and the flipped classroom model can drastically alter the traditional environment. These models help to break down the walls of the traditional classroom and bring in a world of possibilities. By utilizing these models students no longer see themselves as citizens of their school, but world citizens, working together to engage in authentic real-world problem solving learning experiences.
It is the role of the instructional technology specialist to empower teachers to make the vision of instructional technology education a reality. Only through creating real and authentic relationships with teachers, can change truly occur. It is the role of instructional specialist to actively engage in the learning community and create authentic peer relationships. The teacher and instructional specialist must work together, collaborating and empowering each other to achieve their true potential (Knight, 2007). In order for real change to work, the relationship has to be one of collaboration and mutual respect. No one person can be seen as greater than the other, both are working together to create real and positive change.
Creating partnerships and authentic learning experiences is not enough, to drive the digital age classroom. The instructional technology specialists must embrace data and the data team process to bring about real and substantive changes in schools. The instructional technology specialist must be actively involved in the data team process. All stakeholders must look at “data” as not just test scores on high-stakes testing, but as an accurate picture of where the school is and where it is going (Boudett, Murnane, 2015). Data is more than just test scores, data can be used to guide instruction, initiatives and determine the direction of policies and programs.
Technology is constantly changing and as educators, we must all work together and embrace the digital age for the betterment of students. Only when teachers, instructional specialist, administrators, building staff and community come together, can real positive change take place. Working together we must prepare out students for the jobs skills of tomorrow. As Fisch and MeLeod (2013) stated in their Did you know research video, “We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist . . . using technologies that haven’t been invented . . . in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.”
References
Boudett, K. P., City, E. A., & Murnane, R. J. (2013). Data wise: a step-by-step guide to using assessment results to improve teaching and learning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Fisch, K., McLeod, S., & Brenman, J. (2013, March 14). Did You Know Research _ Design by Karl Fisch Scott McLeod _ Jeff Brenman 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1LiJuUGpyY
Knight, J. (2007). Instructional coaching: A partnership approach to improving instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
King, Alison. (1993). From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side. College Teaching, 41(1), 30-35. doi:10.1080/87567555.1993.9926781