Reply #18: "21st century learning" is not just about technology. [View All]

Technology deficits in schools have more to do with lack of access than anything else.

We are certainly willing to regularly update our technological skills and apply them, but not if we're not actually going to be able to use the technology because we can't fund it.

21st century learning should be based on authentic (not corporate or politically sponsored) research, about how the brain develops and learns, and should use methodologies that meet the needs of increasingly diverse student populations. Technologies are tools in that pursuit, not the goals themselves.

Teachers are required to undergo continuous professional development to stay current with new methodologies to suit modern students. Our licenses depend on it.

The real issue is in changing the system to make implementing all that continuous learning possible and effective. We (teachers) aren't the ones wedded to the factory model that makes implementing change difficult and ineffective.

In today's schools, the mantras are:

"Don't focus on what you can't change! (the actual factors that cause academic failure: poverty, etc.) Focus on what you can (and, of course, be accountable for achieving the desired results even when you can't affect the factors resulting in failure.)"

"Don't think of it as doing more with less! Use your time and resources creatively to make sure students get as much learning in overcrowded, understaffed schools, with fewer resources and a shorter school year! You'll just have to do it differently, but no matter what the conditions in the classroom, or the system, are, it's your fault if students fail."