SPECIAL SECTION: TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM
a challenging task, but the time is now
for change to happen in education. In
2015-2016, Education Week reported
that, for the first time, more state
standardized tests were administered
via technology than by using paper
and pencil. Teachers now have tools
for personal development and are
learning how to bring technology into
their classrooms in a meaningful way.
In the 2016-17 school year, the trend
of technology in the classroom will
grow, as will the continued success of
tech-based learning.
THE WHY
Trends in education are continuing to bring new and exciting
opportunities to the classroom. The International Association for
K-12 Online Learning predicts big shifts in the use of technology in
the classroom for both students and teachers. According to Education
Week, public schools in the United States provide at least one computer
for every five students, spend more than $3 billion on digital content
per year, and are pushing to make high-speed Internet affordable.
While making a massive overhaul in the classroom, schools are also
trying to support the educating of teachers and staff to utilize this
technology in even the most rural and remote schools across the
country.
Although technology isn’t foreign to classrooms, funding has long
been a barrier for many schools across the U.S., along with hesitation
by teachers to adopt new methods for teaching. Yet, with all new
technologies come new challenges. In a time where cloud computing
and data analytics drive the way business is done for everything from
hospitals to grocery stores, big data is continuously being monitored,
making it crucial to keep private information secure. Schools and
colleges are trying to keep pace by trading in textbooks for tablets and
turning toward technology to redefine education. These updates to
traditional learning can be broken into four segments: when, why, who
and how.
THE WHEN
While most of us used textbooks, chalkboards, and hard wooden
chairs in perfectly parallel lines facing the front, 2016 has brought big
changes to the classroom for both students and teachers. Education’s
slow reaction to change and inability to keep pace with constantly
changing technologies and innovations have made upgrading learning
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Technology is everywhere. Kids
and adults alike utilize at least some
form of technology in their everyday
lives. From socializing to shopping,
to reading and working, technology
is inevitable in today’s society.
Parents, teachers, community leaders,
and governmental representatives
are speaking up for their kids and
pushing to redefine success and
rethink measuring success in the
classroom. Skills such as knowledge,
social abilities, emotional intelligence
and dispositions are all crucial for a
student’s success in the workforce, yet
many of these skills are overlooked in
the typical classroom setting. Educators are working toward providing
students with meaningful learning opportunities through technology
that encompass all of the aspects that make up success for a graduating
high school senior entering college or the workforce.
THE WHO
Teachers
Near the end of 2015, the U.S. Department of Education released
the 2016 National Education Technology Plan as a commitment to
supporting personalized professional learning to provide greater equity
of access to technology for students across America. In addition, the
Future Ready initiative, developed by the department in 2014, had
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