The challenges in the information age are immense. Since this article was written in 2002, not many advancements have been made in funding, curriculum, or teacher education. The article still holds true because of these reasons.
Paradigm shifts have to be made and are being made. They are being made under different names with similar words attached. Differentiated instruction, assessment based learning, standards based learning have all been used to make shifts happen. These newer methodologies have been around for some time but are now being fully implemented within the high school that I currently teach at and the district that I am currently rewriting curriculum for. Are they technology based or even implementing technology? No, they are not.
What these new methodologies are being used for are performance based assessments, peer-assisted learning, teacher as coach, etc... All of these methodologies have created more work on the front end of implementation and are meant to be easier as time goes on. Does this mean that I fully have a grasp of these things or that I have implemented them all? No, because it is the first year of implementation and for a curriculum to show a change in results there must be a period of 3 to 5 years.
Many administrators and school board members, this is to long. One thing that is neglected in the information age is the wait time. Patience disappears with each new technology because that new techonology is faster than the old. We are a want society where immediate results are desired by all of us. Remember this the next time your computer takes longer than usual to print, startup or to download a file. We need to be more attainment-based and less time-based as stated by the author.Overall, the article makes excellent points about how technology should be embraced and used to better independent learning. In the end, we as educators, want students to learn on their own and make it a lifelong pursuit much like us.
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