Thanks to new adaptive technology and tools, teachers can extend their influence way beyond the limits of what they were able to do before. By focusing on teaching students how to build basic skills, this technology can gradually prepare them for higher-lever learning and allow teachers to focus their efforts on deeper learning. Things like comprehensive learning profiles can go a long way toward helping personalize the process of learning.
Embracing the learning process is an important prerequisite for adopting new skills and knowledge, as well as all the intellectual challenges that go along with it. An essential part of the learning process should be setting goals, reflecting, accepting the fact that you may not know everything at all times, and accepting criticism and applying feedback and suggestions to become better, among other things.
Digital learning can also benefit education leaders in pretty much the same way it benefits students. Leaders can rely on digital courses, learning apps, and even learning and academic networks in order to hone and develop their leadership. These tools allow for a great deal of customization and flexibility, which is great, because leaders can really get down to the specifics.
While digital learning has certainly contributed to the quality of blended learning models, there is already a clear distinction between two different approaches: thin learning, which is your run-of-the-mill testing through multiple choice questions, and deeper learning, which directs students toward establishing a connection between their learning and work, by focusing on project-based learning and promoting their studies in front of a larger community.
It is important to stay connected and convene with education leaders from different districts and schools which promote deeper learning. Thanks to the Internet, it is just a matter of setting up a simple conference call and sharing ideas and receiving genuine and useful feedback.
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