21st Century Learners:  Tech Tools

by Cathleen Richardson

Enter the Digital World

Engaging today’s learner and placing them in the middle of the content isn’t an easy task, but by becoming open to new and innovative teaching practices it makes the journey more exciting. The decision to enter the digital world is one step out of many towards creating the ultimate digital student. If you aren’t familiar with terms like: podcasts, Google docs, blogs, wikis, geocaching, ePortfolios, del.icio.us, or open source it is possible you aren’t supporting your digital students in a way that will promote their learning to the fullest. These technology tools are in their toolbox and they need to be in ours as well. To help put this in perspective view “A Vision of a K12 Students Today” a moving video about digital natives. The video, produced by B.J. Nesbit is a powerful testament to how teachers need to view our current educational status.

Once you view these videos and “free your mind” to the amazing possibilities of new teaching and learning practices, like the song says, “the rest will follow.” Confucius eloquently captured this moment when he wrote, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

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