Teachers Transform Learning and Collaborative Edting

"Increasingly the new economy requires workers to be self-directed and self-assessing and interdependent" - Alan November



Fortunately, integrating technology makes possible transforming learning, especially when schools and teachers prepare themselves and their students for the Information Age , (and throw out the Industrial Age model) learn and employ the National Education Technology Standards (NETS), and use innovative, constructivist teaching practices appropriate for the new learning environment. Armed with this knowledge, teachers will realize that curriculums drive learning, and technology enhances it -and can potentially transform it. Or, according to Lockard and Abrams, “integration puts the emphasis squarely where it belongs: on the curriculum, not on the computer” (p. 346). If administration and the principal take the lead, and teachers adopt a vision for technology integration, then technology can transform learning. “Integrating technology into the curriculum can and does influence learning, but in a general, context-enriching – rather than causal – manner”(Hawkes & Cambre, 2001, p. 51). A transformative experience this week occurred when Harold and I collaborated online with his students editing papers. Students emailed us their papers, invited us to share their rough drafts in google docs
, and asked us to edit thier writing assignments. In google docs one can insert changes and make comments within the document: So, three people - a team - collaborating on a paper is likely to create a quality paper. More important, the learning experience is transformed - and devoid of red pen markups - since the student becomes an active participant in their learning.

Internet Safety in January. Please Read Meagan's Tragedy