adapting in a digital era

How can schools adapt to ever advancing technology and to the ways that technology changes the nature of knowledge, the boundaries of collaboration and the direction of information flow?

The exponential growth of technology, its pervasiveness and potential uses has changed our world and the context for education. There are some great thinkers and controversial ideas on this issue waiting for you in our resource library. Find out what they have to say and let us know how you think these ideas should inform the structure and content of our classrooms and the learning opportunities provided for our kids.

Here are a few highlights from our resource library on the topic of technology and learning:

Mark Prensky argues that children raised in the digital era (Digital Natives) think, act and process information in radically different ways than those of us born prior to this cultural revolution (Digital Immigrants). He even postulates that their brains are structurally different because of their experience within the digital environment. As a result, Prensky argues, there is a serious misfit between teachers and students and between teaching methods and the way today’s kids learn best. Read this article.

Don Tapscott’s recent book, Wikenomics, explores how mass collaboration has changed the hierarchical flow of information and the very nature of and potential for innovation. The implications for learning environments as well as the potential power of collective intelligence are staggering. So, too, are the changes to the workplaces of the future. Read more about Wikenomics.

New Zealand educational researcher Jane Gilbert is concerned with understanding the modern knowledge-based society and and exploring the meaning of ‘knowledge’ in our current context. In a recent article for Education Canada called “Redefining Knowledge for the Post-industrial Age”, Gilbert examines the history of thinking about education, the concept of ‘knowledge’ in relation to schools, and how and why our ideas need to change. Read Gilbert’s article.

The MacArthur Foundation (USA) launched a $50 million initiative in 2006 to help determine how digital technologies are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life. The foundation asserts that the answers are critical to developing educational and other social institutions that can meet the needs of this and future generations. Learn more.