Techniques Jan 2013 - 16

The Way We Teach Now

CONNECTING CONNECTING C N empowering learners
By Virginia R. Jones R
oday’s educational conversation seems to skirt around the technology needs and demands of our students and instead focuses on standardization and assessment. As noted futurist Alvin Toffler asserts, the key to literacy in the 21st century is the ability to learn, unlearn and relearn.1 Technology, along with its companion of global connectedness, has changed what we know, and more importantly, how we learn. Scholar and author Cathy N. Davidson explains: “The world has changed so completely that your old habits now hold you back…you need to break a pattern, to free yourself from old ways before you can adopt new ones.”2 What is our responsibility as educators of our future citizens? What must we learn, unlearn and relearn to equip today’s

TEACHING,

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PHOTO COURTESY OF ISTOCK.COM/P2007

students with the skills and knowledge to survive in our global economy? Much research has been published about today’s millennial learners and how they are digitally connected, or wired, from birth. Today’s students are adept at using technology; one could almost say they are tethered to their “technology” as someone is tethered to life support. Take away their connectedness to their peers and the outside world, and they start to withdraw and fade from their surroundings. But do today’s students actually know how to use their technology and understand its implications in their social, educational and work lives? Many do not understand the repercussions of items posted on the Internet (Facebook, Twitter) and the impact of emails and texts long after they have been sent. Unfortunately,

many of today’s learners lack basic skills in simple applications of word processing and the associated software, they lack skills to perform educational research and they lack knowledge of reliable sources—all required for educational and career success.

21st-Century Skills and Technology
Since career and technical education (CTE) is based historically on promoting technical, hands-on, real-world applications in numerous vocations, our educators are uniquely poised to offer more use of instructional technology in their classrooms. Many CTE educators have remarkable connections with industry partnerships, internships and learning labs to promote technology. Twenty-first century skills integrate seamlessly with
www.acteonline.org

Techniques

January 2013

Techniques Jan 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Techniques Jan 2013