Technologies that are coming of age

Technologies that are coming of age:
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1. One to one Laptops
2. Personal Learning Device – PDA, Cell phone, Smartphone’s
3. Open Source and Free Solutions – Open office, Linux OS many other applications
4. Making Good Decisions (ethics online) – Student are challenges with making good decisions while online, Cyber bullying, Sexting, Tone of voice while making comments and post online.
5. Students as Creator/Collaborator – Social learning environments, Facebook, Ning, Twitter, Wiki’s
6. Extended Learning – Any where any time learning, At home, At Play, At Work learning every where there is access.
7. Open Courseware – MIT Open Courseware, hippocampus
8. Differentiation/Universal Design for Learning – UDL template lesson plans

Challenges awaiting us in k12 education:
Over the years these issues have not been solved yet: time, money, training, support, access.

Time: technology integration needs to become transparent or seamless in it use, it is no longer seen as something on top of what teachers already have to do. In order for this it must become simplistic, something as simple as a traditional pencil. No one has to tell someone how to use a pencil, it is a standard. This is when it will become a part of the entire curriculum.

Money: schools looking to save money can begin using solutions which utilize open source and free applications.

Training: we need to continue to work toward educating teachers to effectively integrate technology tools. Teachers must make a commitment to change teaching practices. It is not good enough to go the conference learn the best management practices and then go back in the room behind closed doors and change nothing.

Support: If we offer support and professional development training, teachers will never change the way they use technology. This support must be timely if you want them to integrate it in to there lesson plans. Access: this is an issue. We must provide fast connections needed for the new Web 2.0 applications and streaming video.