Transformed Instruction

At your next faculty meeting, ask how many teachers have been teaching for more than 10 or 15 years. Then ask of that group "Are students today different than when you started teaching?" It would be a rare occurrence if all hands did not shoot up in eager agreement.

What's different about students today? Lots--check the discussions on the Digital Divide, Digital Generation, Digital Citizenship, and Media Literacy pages on this wiki for starters. Students in high school in 2006 do not remember a time without the World Wide Web or cell phones. They have developed learning habits and styles in media rich environments (or not--see the Digital Divide discussion) and are increasingly exposed to targeted ads and solicitations. They're used to getting answers as soon as they have questions, and they are used to being connected to everything all the time, including their friends.

What implications does this have for classroom instruction? What tools will reach and engage your students in learning activities? Let's break this discussion down into several important components.

Transforming Technologies

What kinds of technologies (hardware and software) are available to educators that have the potential to change the structure of teaching and learning in a classroom setting?

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Instructional Strategies

What instructional strategies can be employed to creating engaging learning environments for 21st century learners?

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Creating Instructional Tools

What strategies can we actually use to create instructional tools? What are some best practices in this area?

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