Technology in education is constantly evolving and innovation is moving faster than pedagogy, however, there are noticeable trends that support student learning. The students in classrooms today are different, these digital natives, are growing up in a world where technology is embedded in their daily life. These students learn by doing, creating, learning through a connected network – social, Web 2.0, connected learning. Digital natives prefer to learn through visuals and graphics (Cornu, 2011, p. 7).
Trend #1 Connectivism and Social Learning
Connectivism is a developing learning theory that encompasses how students learn within a digital and connected learning environment. Students have access to tools that were not available in the past. These tools include Web 2.0, social media, blogs, Youtube, Google Apps for Education, robotics, 1:1 devices, makerspace and video equipment. Students are able to obtain knowledge from sources other than a teacher in real time using tools that are accessible to them. Students have access to information and they demand to be connected to the network. In turn,n students are intrinsically motivated to learn. Siemens (2005) states that technology is changing the way our brains work. Students are multitasking, moving from one task to the next, their learning habits seem chaotic.
Trend #2 Collaboration through Cloud Computing
Digital natives learn socially through collaboration. Students network and connect with one another using social media, blogging and project-based learning to name a few contexts. New technology such as Google Apps for Education support student to student collaboration and student to teacher feedback. The very nature of cloud computing has expanded the boundaries of students co-creating a product that demonstrates their learning. Students can connect with classmates outside of school hours or building. Educators can provide comments on student work to encourage students to deepen their learning at any time from multiple devices.
Trend #3 Digital Literacy and 21st Century Learning
The umbrella concept of all trends in technology in the classroom is digital literacy. International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) outlines digital literacy for students to include: creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem-solving and decision making. Digital literacy has three classifications: use, understand and create (“Digital Literacy Fundamentals,” n.d., para. 3). Students have access to use digital media such as computers, various software programs and applications, cloud computing and the internet. Understand students ability to know how technology affects our perceptions, beliefs and attitudes. Students need to comprehend how to seek and retrieve information using digital resources. Create is when students make a product, whether it be a video, prototype, computer program or robot. Students creating is the highest point on Blooms Taxonomy for digital technology. Developing a makerspace or fostering a maker movement culture in the classroom is an excellent way to engage students in creating.
Retrieved from https://literacyteaching.net/2015/02/19/blooms-taxonomy-meets-the-digital-world/
Trend #4 Maker movement and Computational Thinking
The maker movement learning by doing, coding and computational thinking are themes that are permeating classrooms. The goal in education is to prepare students for their future. Integrating makerspaces into the classroom supports many different learning styles. Students have the opportunity to have an experience, they are creators. The maker movement has a cyclical process: think, make and improve (Martinez & Stager, 2019 pg. 54 – 55). 21st century learning is the key to preparing students for their careers – collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity are skills that employers will demand. As educators how do we provide learning opportunities to foster these skills in the classroom?
Student is creating a dragon using squishy circuits
References
Cornu, Bernard (2011, September). Digital natives: How do they learn? How to teach them? Policy Brief UNESCO Institute for Information Technology in Education, 229, 1 – 12.
Digital Literacy Fundamentals. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/general-information/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/digital-literacy-fundamentals
International Society for Technology in Education (2007). iste.nets.s: Advancing Digital Age Learning. Iste.org/nets.
Martinez, S. L. & Stager, G (2019). Invent to Learn (2nd ed.). Torrance, California: Constructing Modern Knowledge Press
Siemens G. 2005. Connectivism: a learning theory for the digital age. Int J Instr Technol Dis Learn 2:1–8; [cited 2015 Aug]. Available from: http://www.itdl.org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm.