technology 6

The Role of Technology in teaching and the classroom 

       It has taken a while, but I think I have finally come up with a single, comprehensive and actionable statement of the role of technology in the classroom. This is crucial, because many educators are becoming confused and frustrated by the myriad approaches and ways of talking about technology’s role. Although much in twenty-first century K-12 education still needs to be figured out, such as creating a generally-agreed-upon twenty-first century curriculum, one goal is, I think, now clear – the pedagogy with which our kids should be taught. Although it can be stated in many ways, the basic direction is away from the “old” pedagogy of teachers “telling” (or talking, or lecturing, or being the “Sage on the Stage”) to the “new” pedagogy of kids teaching themselves with teacher’s guidance (a combination of “student-centered learning,” “problem-based learning,” “case-based learning,” and the teacher’s being the “Guide on the Side.”) Of course this pedagogy is not really new, except, at the moment, to many of our teachers. Every teacher and administrator is, currently, somewhere on a continuum between the old and the new paradigms. Our herculean task is to move all of them, around the world, to the new pedagogy as quickly as possible. With this view of our goal (while some may disagree, it is becoming generally and widely accepted) we can now proceed to define the role of technology: