Upon my analysis of the International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE) standards for students, it was evident to me that there is a major shift needed in the vision of curriculum planning when it comes to technology. I found that some of the differences between the traditional school curriculum (i.e. little technology and teacher-centered) and the new school curriculum (i.e. technology-infused and student-centered) is a matter of evolution.
One area that will need to evolve is the part of the new paradigm that makes students the center of their educational experience. Now teachers need to empower their learners to engage in learning as a self-directed experience and guide them to develop skills and knowledge to enable them to be active and discerning learners. The other area that will need to evolve is implementing technology in order to expand the degree of collaboration, connectivity, information seeking, evaluative skills, and ingenuity that was present in traditional school curriculum. Technology makes for greater possibilities and greater skill sets and knowledge banks that students need to access and use.
Presently, it is interesting to see where the shift may be happening. A video called “3 Phases of Technology Integration” provides a useful framework for understanding what the process may be like for integrating technology in schools and therefore shifting towards a new learning paradigm. The author of the video posits that most often teachers begin using technology by enacting tools to help them present their information in more interesting ways. They then gradually have students use technology to access content knowledge. Along those lines, in reference to ISTE standards for students, I think that currently teachers are doing the best job with implementing the first standard, which is “Creativity and Innovation”. This standard reflects students using technology to access and work with content knowledge. Many of the other standards involve more sophisticated forms of educational goals that have been included in traditional curriculum (such as collaboration, cultural understanding, information seeking, evaluation, problem solving, etc.). They also involve novel skills and knowledge that involve using digital and technological tools.
I feel like I am still learning about the new learning paradigm. I am excited about what I have learned so far about the paradigm because it holds as principles the importance of students being engaged in learning, being empowered to engage in self-directed learning, being informed consumers of information, excellent problem solvers, collaborators, and responsible global citizens. I also feel a need to continue to educate myself about this paradigm so that I can implement it fluently inside my classroom. I believe that many teachers feel the same way.
I think one of the steepest learning curves in this process of a paradigm shift is learning the tools that exist in a technological learning environment. This is the area that contains many novel parts that I have little to no background for. Therefore, this will be an area that I will have to take responsibility for ensuring that I gain the skills and knowledge I need. I’m sure many other educators would agree with me.
In order to become more fluent with applying this paradigm and integrating technology into my classroom, I will need to use as many resources as I can to continue to educate myself in these areas. I will need to subscribe to scholarly journals, choose some books on the topics and keep using and practicing the tools I have learned so far. I think schools can foster this process by holding teachers accountable for a certain level of technology integration in their classrooms. This will create an impetus for teachers to continue to educate themselves on what is available for their learners.
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