SPECIAL SECTION: TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM
In a 2015 survey conducted by Project
Tomorrow, 48 percent of K-12 teachers and
nearly two-thirds of K-5 teachers reported
adopting the use of games in their weekly
lessons. According to Education Week, 23
million devices were purchased in 2013 and
2014 alone. More recently, tablets are taking
over as an affordable option for bringing
technology to each individual student.
One-to-one computing hopes to provide
teachers with the time to give each student
more personalized attention and time to
work at his/her own pace.
New Learning Spaces
Gone are the days of sitting head-behindhead, avoiding eye contact with your
teacher, hoping she won’t call on you for the
answer to her question. Student-centered
environments in colleges and schools
breed creativity and innovation through
small-group learning and instruction.
“In a personalized learning classroom,
technology frees up time for teachers to
do what they do best: teach students in
small groups and customize instruction,”
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
says. Zuckerberg along with the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation and many
others are seeing the positive outcomes of
personalized learning. Reinventing learning
spaces is a subtle approach that will make
sure the student population is served
adequately, allowing teachers to spend more
personalized time with each student in a
group. Through technology, students are
provided access to 24/7 learning, allowing
them to take learning outside of their typical
classroom setting and work on their own
time. This means a cultural shift in the use of
mobile technology in the classroom.
STEM Integration
The United States is pushing for young
people to become scientists, engineers,
and innovators to shape tomorrow and to
continue to be global leaders. As a common
buzzword in recent years, STEM – science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics
– continues to play a crucial role in early
learning. In a report by U.S. News, early
development of STEM skills supports
reading, language, and STEM skills later
in life. Typically, STEM learning is a focus
of high school-level students. Inadequate
attention is being paid to STEM in early
childhood education since other key
competencies, such as basic skills in literacy
and numeracy, are topics of focus. Educators
are working toward proper preparation for
teaching early childhood STEM classes
to create an even more valuable learning
experience for elementary students.
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Professional Development for Educators
The ever-changing landscape of education
is hard to stay privy to as an educator. Putting
hundreds of hours into lesson plans each
school year makes the thought of adopting
changes a daunting one. Personalized
professional development is changing the
way teachers are learning to teach their
students. Administration-required seminars
are being replaced with real-time alternative
credentialing. Teachers are learning new ways
for classroom learning, combining online
learning, service-based learning, and hands-on
learning to provide students with a valuable
educational experience.
As technology continues to change and
education tirelessly tries to keep up, students
and teachers can look forward to the exciting
opportunities in learning. School districts
will continue to work to make thoughtful
technology purchases that develop a vision for
the future of education. Once technology is
purchased, schools must remember a crucial
step in rollout: educating faculty and staff on
how to successfully utilize the technology in
the classroom. The right technology, with the
right professional development, can lead to
a valuable education. From online learning,
to utilizing wearables for interactive teaching
purposes, education trends are going to
continue to morph to ensure that students
graduate knowing they are ready to take on the
world. n