From the article: "Given that schools have embraced technology, what is the real impact on learning? Take away the term, technology, and think of it as a tool - not a magic bullet."
From the blog post:
It is not so much about the tool and what it can do, but more about the purpose for using the tool. Obviously, if students want to share pictures of a project they are working on, a digital camera and a blog make a lot more sense than a flipbook. Still, don't count out older technologies just because you are trying to be a "21st Century Educator." Sometimes a dry erase marker and a wipe-off slate will do the job just fine.
"It was amazing," freshman Parker Hooten said. "We didn't just sit there and learn. We actually did stuff. It made the class much more fun and involving. You want to be there."
"It's really removing the teacher from being this didactic downloader to being a facilitator and a coach," Burnett said.
Great example of how PBL and technology fit together. Technology wasn't replacing another tool here, but being used as a tool to do completely unique and different things not otherwise possible WITHOUT it.
If Google+ is a social networking tool our students will eventually have access to through their school Google accounts, this might be a great tool to teach digital responsibility, ethics, and information-sharing
“cell phones are not computers! They may both contain microprocessors and batteries, but as of today, their functionality is quite different…The computer is an intellectual laboratory and vehicle for self-expression that makes it possible for children to learn and do things in ways unthinkable just a few years ago. We impair such empowerment when we limit educational practice to the functionality of the least powerful device.”
From the article: "Why not let kids use the tech tools they're already familiar with to enhance their learning? But as schools try to figure out the best way of transitioning to this new world, some thorny issues must first be sorted out. How do teachers and school systems prepare for all the different platforms, when some kids are bringing in tablets, others are bringing their parents' old laptops, and the remainder are on mobile phones? And what effect does this change have on the dynamics of a classroom?"
These resources look at Bloom's Taxonomy and are identified by the blogger as tools that will allow students to create based on their learning and knowledge.
Differences in instructional practices with an interactive whiteboard - highlights the need for training and equipping teachers with the right tools to use the technology in their classroom