EDtech Trends
T3 Framework for Innovation in Education
T1
T2
Translational Transformational
T1.1: Automation
T1.2: Consumption T2.1: Production
T2.2: Contribution
reflective of high impact use?
Here is another pattern I’ve
observed from compounding evi-
dence: When technology tools are
used to replace teachers, on average,
one can expect very small to small
gains in student achievement. When
digital tools are used to supplement
teachers’ current instructional prac-
tices, one can expect modest gains
in student achievement. But when
technology tools are used to enhance
instructional and learning practic-
es that are well grounded in sound
research and theory, one can expect
large to very large gains in student
achievement.
I recently synthesized my life’s
work on solving the wicked problem of
technology integration into my latest
book, Disruptive Classroom Technol-
ogies: A Framework for Innovation
in Education. My hope is to disrupt
the long-standing narrative about
technology in education by providing
an evidence-based framework that
12 essentials | summer 2017
increments technology use into three
distinct domains: Translational, Trans-
formational, and Transcendent. While
each stage is important, the impact of
translational technology tool use —
that is, simply translating teaching and
learning tasks from an analogue to a
digital realm — is anemic. However,
the strategies associated with transfor-
mational and transcendent technology
tool use, as I’ve defined and identified
in Disruptive Classroom Technologies,
have an impact on student learning that
is equivalent to three or more additional
years of student achievement in a single
academic year, perhaps even more. That
is clearly an idea worth pursuing and
sharing with your customers.
As a nation, we would all benefit by
learning more about and sharing trans-
formational and transcendent technol-
ogy use in schools. For folks serving
schools in the educational technology
industry, doing so will bring benefits
that are both immediate and sustain-
able. So now I have a question: Are
T3
Transcendent
T3.1: Inquiry Design
T3.2: Social
Entrepreneurship
you willing to help shatter the myth of
technological determinism? Let’s have
a catch and find out…
n
DR. ANTHONY J. “SONNY”
MAGANA III is an award-winning
educational futurist, best-selling author,
and pioneering educational technology
researcher.
The author
of numerous
research
studies and
articles, Son-
ny’s newest
book,
Disruptive
Classroom
Technologies:
A Frame-
work for
Innovation in Education, was recently
published through Corwin Press to
wide international acclaim. Sonny can
be reached via Twitter @sonnymagana
or at www.maganaeduction.com.