When the regular school day ends at Maryland's Springbrook High School, the fun begins in earnest for girls who are part of an after-school club that focuses on game programming. They not only excel at technology challenges, says their teacher, Pat Yongpradit, but they are breaking a longstanding -- and worrisome -- trend in the field of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

This week, in an Education World "edu-torial," Lynne Schrum presents her personal perspective on the ways in which technology can enhance learning -- and calls on educators to take a leadership role in determining the ways in which technology is used to support educational goals.

Despite the wealth of information available on the Internet, a recent study suggests that many students lack basic research skills. According to the latest Project Information Literacy Progress Report, 84 percent of students say that when it comes to course-based research, getting started is their biggest challenge.