Welcome to my E-Portfolio
Technology in Education
Engaged Learning for Today’s “Digital Natives”
Preparing students for lifelong learning requires new approaches to education that incorporate
technologies increasingly a part of students’ everyday lives. While the importance of reading,
writing, and arithmetic still holds true, educators need to look at these and other subjects in new
ways, using readily accessible technologies to engage and inspire students to take a more active
role in learning.
It’s accepted that a well-rounded education is a gateway to personal success. It sets students on a
path to lifelong learning that enables them to succeed in a changing world. Through education,
individuals can expand their minds and embrace new ideas and opportunities, and at the same
time, build better lives for themselves and their communities.
In a world where geographic boundaries are blurring, students also need the flexibility to connect with and collaborate with people anywhere at any time—communicating information in more dynamic, engaging ways. In addition, it is necessary to consider the impact education plays in competitive economies, where once local industries now compete on a global scale.
For today’s students to become tomorrow’s leaders in science, technology, healthcare, the arts, and other areas, they need to know how to use all the tools at their disposal.
In a recent report, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills highlighted many of the challenges
and opportunities facing students and educators in the United States.
“ In an economy driven by innovation and knowledge, in marketplaces engaged in intense
competition and constant renewal, in a world of tremendous opportunities and risk, in a
society facing complex business, political, scientific, technological, health, and environmental
challenges and in diverse workplaces and communities that hinge on collaborative relationships
and social networking, the ingenuity, agility and skills of the Filipinos are
critical to International competitiveness ”
Education revolution
As the technology for personal and business use evolves, so do the tools available to teachers to
enhance student learning. By looking at changes in technology as an opportunity to advance student
learning—particularly when a technology is already widely adopted by students—educators can
better engage students and give them a strong foundation for continued learning.
In a sense, the education revolution driven by technology is at once old and new. Technology offers
educators the opportunity to revisit old challenges with new tools. Instead of simply viewing
technology as a skill set that students need to learn, it can be used to transform curricula to provide
students with learning that is at once more relevant and customized to their unique learning styles.
The impact of more customized and personalized approaches to teaching can be far reaching. A
2008 article in Education Week focused on effective teaching in the United States by examining
different learning styles and explaining that customized learning approaches are needed to help
students succeed. As the article highlights:
“ All students learn differently. Most of us know this intuitively. We learn best through
different methods, with different styles and some learn better through visual means; others
need to talk it through, write it down, play it out, and so on. ”
A look at yesterday and today
The current education system in modernized countries dates back to the Industrial Revolution,
when agricultural workers needed to be prepared for factory jobs. But in today’s age of instant
information, the Industrial Revolution is a distant memory, as are most jobs involving assembly
lines and machine work. Former strategies that involved teaching by rote and following rigid
academic agendas no longer engage the majority of students and do little to prepare students to
compete in an agile, global economy.
The shift in skill sets required to prepare students for success is occurring at an accelerated pace.
In less than three decades, developed countries have moved from manufacturing economies to
knowledge economies that require unprecedented analytical and interactive skills. In just one
generation, skill requirements have changed dramatically, and today’s employers are demanding
workers who can think and work differently from their parents.
To strengthen student success in school and beyond, students need to become effective communicators
who can understand, manage, and create exceptional written and multimedia communication in
a variety of forms and contexts. They also need to be able to think critically, exhibit sound problem
solving skills, and know how to frame and synthesize what they’ve learned. Technology literacy
and the ability to access, manage, analyze, integrate, evaluate, and create information in a variety
of forms and media are essential.
Students need to know more than just how to use technology they must be able to engage with technology to gather knowledge and use it to communicate, collaborate, and innovate.
The communication revolution
Part of what is driving the need for new types of skills is an enormous shift in how people access
information and communicate. With the advent of the Internet, information has gone from
scarce to abundant, and it can be accessed using many different devices, from computers and
phones to PDAs.
At the same time, new communication avenues are everywhere, from blogs and social networks
to web conferences that connect anyone, anywhere, anytime. Instead of waiting for the daily
paper to hit the front porch, there has been a democratization of publishing. Already, many
students participate in the publishing process by writing in these channels, viewing themselves
as content creators who share their opinions, stories, music, and videos—all with the aim of
expressing their creativity and exchanging information.
As a result, new forms of media, such as blogging, instant messaging, and social networking are
redefining what it means to be connected, shaping the way people interact, how they make and
maintain friends, network with colleagues, and live their lives.
Engaging a Generation of “Digital Natives”
Today’s students are the most wired generation yet. According to eMarketer, 95% of college students will use the Internet at least once a month. Their time spent online is measured in hours per day—not per week. On many campuses, more than 80% of students use social networking sites on a regular basis.
International education consultant and author Marc Prensky refers to students who have been immersed in technology since birth as “digital natives”. To digital natives, technology is not a tool; instead, it is a fundamental part of the way they live. They rely on the web for information, communication, entertainment, and to connect with the world around them, regardless of the distance between communities. This is evident in several areas, including the rapid adoption of social networking.
The key in engaging the digital generation is for educators to apply the right technology at the right time. Using technology advances, teachers can present lessons in ways best suited to the cognitive styles of their students. For example, the use of video, audio, and text can mutually reinforce concepts and enable students to engage the same ideas in multiple ways. However, accomplishing this means that educators must view technology not as “the enemy” but as a key tool to motivate and engage students. By addressing students at this level, schools can overcome problems with “emotional truancy,” where students show up for class but essentially tune out the lesson.
In a National Science Foundation (NSF) report developed by the NSF Taskforce on Cyberlearning,
the impact that technology advances are having and will have on education can be profound.
While the NSF report uses the term “cyberlearning—the use of networked computing and
communications technologies to support learning”, the opportunity for educators and lifelong
learners is evident, regardless of the terminology used.
“Cyberlearning has the potential to transform education throughout a lifetime, enabling customized interaction with diverse learning materials on any topic—from anthropology to biochemistry to civil engineering to zoology. Learning does not stop with K-12 or higher education; cyberlearning supports continuous education at any age.”4
Strategy
Paths to Successful Education
Because teachers are typically not digital natives, the key to success isn’t to simply add technology to
the classroom. Instead, the focus needs to be on enabling teachers to integrate the tools into their
curricula, so they are comfortable letting their students use them. Adobe believes that both K-12 and
higher education will evolve along four paths to help ensure that current and future generations are
engaged in the classroom and have developed the proper skills to succeed in the global economy.
• Customized: Educational institutions will need to offer personalized instruction to accommodate
different learning styles and tailor courses and services to meet the individual needs of students,
faculty, and staff.
• Collaborative: The level of collaboration between students and faculty will continue to grow, and
faculty will increasingly become facilitators who help co-create knowledge. Students and faculty
will work in face-to-face and virtual teams worldwide to tackle complex and sophisticated
projects, and bring together different perspectives and skills.
By integrating the technology that students use, admire, and aspire to, education
institutions will appeal to digital natives, driving innovation and enthusiasm and setting students
on a path to success.
Students will increasingly be attending institutions virtually, making knowledge more accessible and available to a greater number of people. Adobe solutions already help educators and students succeed in all four areas. Adobe virtual classroom solutions enable learning anywhere, anytime, on any device, and extend the reach ofthe classroom to teach, learn, and collaborate in real-time. Schools can also customize the learning experience to meet the needs of individuals, while seamlessly fitting into the existing infrastructure of the institution.
Addressing Educator and Student Expectations
The impact Adobe solutions are having on educators and students is evident worldwide. At Purdue
University, technology is being leveraged to enhance student learning with more dynamic online
content and expanded opportunities for real-time collaboration.
The Adobe software provides students with the ability to meet and share information via the web
with peers and professors for enhanced learning. School administrators benefit from the
intuitive Adobe software because they can spend less time traveling across campuses for
meetings. Equally important, faculty can deliver engaging course content online and teach
classes remotely, if necessary.
For example, Professor Jian Wang used Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional to solve a scheduling
problem. During a two-week research trip to Beijing, he delivered two synchronous online lectures
to students in his integrated marketing class on Purdue’s main campus in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The students attended class at their usual time, while Wang delivered his lectures from a small
office in China.
Because the students and Professor Wang had access to web cameras and audio and video
feedback, they could interact with each other in real time. “Acrobat Connect made distance
irrelevant,” said Wang of his Beijing experience. In fact, the next time Wang teaches a global
marketing class, he plans to use Acrobat Connect Pro to enable Purdue students in the United
States to collaborate with university students in China.
Preparing students for lifelong learning requires new approaches to education that incorporate
technologies increasingly a part of students’ everyday lives. While the importance of reading,
writing, and arithmetic still holds true, educators need to look at these and other subjects in new
ways, using readily accessible technologies to engage and inspire students to take a more active
role in learning.
It’s accepted that a well-rounded education is a gateway to personal success. It sets students on a
path to lifelong learning that enables them to succeed in a changing world. Through education,
individuals can expand their minds and embrace new ideas and opportunities, and at the same
time, build better lives for themselves and their communities.
In a world where geographic boundaries are blurring, students also need the flexibility to connect with and collaborate with people anywhere at any time—communicating information in more dynamic, engaging ways. In addition, it is necessary to consider the impact education plays in competitive economies, where once local industries now compete on a global scale.
For today’s students to become tomorrow’s leaders in science, technology, healthcare, the arts, and other areas, they need to know how to use all the tools at their disposal.
In a recent report, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills highlighted many of the challenges
and opportunities facing students and educators in the United States.
“ In an economy driven by innovation and knowledge, in marketplaces engaged in intense
competition and constant renewal, in a world of tremendous opportunities and risk, in a
society facing complex business, political, scientific, technological, health, and environmental
challenges and in diverse workplaces and communities that hinge on collaborative relationships
and social networking, the ingenuity, agility and skills of the Filipinos are
critical to International competitiveness ”
Education revolution
As the technology for personal and business use evolves, so do the tools available to teachers to
enhance student learning. By looking at changes in technology as an opportunity to advance student
learning—particularly when a technology is already widely adopted by students—educators can
better engage students and give them a strong foundation for continued learning.
In a sense, the education revolution driven by technology is at once old and new. Technology offers
educators the opportunity to revisit old challenges with new tools. Instead of simply viewing
technology as a skill set that students need to learn, it can be used to transform curricula to provide
students with learning that is at once more relevant and customized to their unique learning styles.
The impact of more customized and personalized approaches to teaching can be far reaching. A
2008 article in Education Week focused on effective teaching in the United States by examining
different learning styles and explaining that customized learning approaches are needed to help
students succeed. As the article highlights:
“ All students learn differently. Most of us know this intuitively. We learn best through
different methods, with different styles and some learn better through visual means; others
need to talk it through, write it down, play it out, and so on. ”
A look at yesterday and today
The current education system in modernized countries dates back to the Industrial Revolution,
when agricultural workers needed to be prepared for factory jobs. But in today’s age of instant
information, the Industrial Revolution is a distant memory, as are most jobs involving assembly
lines and machine work. Former strategies that involved teaching by rote and following rigid
academic agendas no longer engage the majority of students and do little to prepare students to
compete in an agile, global economy.
The shift in skill sets required to prepare students for success is occurring at an accelerated pace.
In less than three decades, developed countries have moved from manufacturing economies to
knowledge economies that require unprecedented analytical and interactive skills. In just one
generation, skill requirements have changed dramatically, and today’s employers are demanding
workers who can think and work differently from their parents.
To strengthen student success in school and beyond, students need to become effective communicators
who can understand, manage, and create exceptional written and multimedia communication in
a variety of forms and contexts. They also need to be able to think critically, exhibit sound problem
solving skills, and know how to frame and synthesize what they’ve learned. Technology literacy
and the ability to access, manage, analyze, integrate, evaluate, and create information in a variety
of forms and media are essential.
Students need to know more than just how to use technology they must be able to engage with technology to gather knowledge and use it to communicate, collaborate, and innovate.
The communication revolution
Part of what is driving the need for new types of skills is an enormous shift in how people access
information and communicate. With the advent of the Internet, information has gone from
scarce to abundant, and it can be accessed using many different devices, from computers and
phones to PDAs.
At the same time, new communication avenues are everywhere, from blogs and social networks
to web conferences that connect anyone, anywhere, anytime. Instead of waiting for the daily
paper to hit the front porch, there has been a democratization of publishing. Already, many
students participate in the publishing process by writing in these channels, viewing themselves
as content creators who share their opinions, stories, music, and videos—all with the aim of
expressing their creativity and exchanging information.
As a result, new forms of media, such as blogging, instant messaging, and social networking are
redefining what it means to be connected, shaping the way people interact, how they make and
maintain friends, network with colleagues, and live their lives.
Engaging a Generation of “Digital Natives”
Today’s students are the most wired generation yet. According to eMarketer, 95% of college students will use the Internet at least once a month. Their time spent online is measured in hours per day—not per week. On many campuses, more than 80% of students use social networking sites on a regular basis.
International education consultant and author Marc Prensky refers to students who have been immersed in technology since birth as “digital natives”. To digital natives, technology is not a tool; instead, it is a fundamental part of the way they live. They rely on the web for information, communication, entertainment, and to connect with the world around them, regardless of the distance between communities. This is evident in several areas, including the rapid adoption of social networking.
The key in engaging the digital generation is for educators to apply the right technology at the right time. Using technology advances, teachers can present lessons in ways best suited to the cognitive styles of their students. For example, the use of video, audio, and text can mutually reinforce concepts and enable students to engage the same ideas in multiple ways. However, accomplishing this means that educators must view technology not as “the enemy” but as a key tool to motivate and engage students. By addressing students at this level, schools can overcome problems with “emotional truancy,” where students show up for class but essentially tune out the lesson.
In a National Science Foundation (NSF) report developed by the NSF Taskforce on Cyberlearning,
the impact that technology advances are having and will have on education can be profound.
While the NSF report uses the term “cyberlearning—the use of networked computing and
communications technologies to support learning”, the opportunity for educators and lifelong
learners is evident, regardless of the terminology used.
“Cyberlearning has the potential to transform education throughout a lifetime, enabling customized interaction with diverse learning materials on any topic—from anthropology to biochemistry to civil engineering to zoology. Learning does not stop with K-12 or higher education; cyberlearning supports continuous education at any age.”4
Strategy
Paths to Successful Education
Because teachers are typically not digital natives, the key to success isn’t to simply add technology to
the classroom. Instead, the focus needs to be on enabling teachers to integrate the tools into their
curricula, so they are comfortable letting their students use them. Adobe believes that both K-12 and
higher education will evolve along four paths to help ensure that current and future generations are
engaged in the classroom and have developed the proper skills to succeed in the global economy.
• Customized: Educational institutions will need to offer personalized instruction to accommodate
different learning styles and tailor courses and services to meet the individual needs of students,
faculty, and staff.
• Collaborative: The level of collaboration between students and faculty will continue to grow, and
faculty will increasingly become facilitators who help co-create knowledge. Students and faculty
will work in face-to-face and virtual teams worldwide to tackle complex and sophisticated
projects, and bring together different perspectives and skills.
By integrating the technology that students use, admire, and aspire to, education
institutions will appeal to digital natives, driving innovation and enthusiasm and setting students
on a path to success.
Students will increasingly be attending institutions virtually, making knowledge more accessible and available to a greater number of people. Adobe solutions already help educators and students succeed in all four areas. Adobe virtual classroom solutions enable learning anywhere, anytime, on any device, and extend the reach ofthe classroom to teach, learn, and collaborate in real-time. Schools can also customize the learning experience to meet the needs of individuals, while seamlessly fitting into the existing infrastructure of the institution.
Addressing Educator and Student Expectations
The impact Adobe solutions are having on educators and students is evident worldwide. At Purdue
University, technology is being leveraged to enhance student learning with more dynamic online
content and expanded opportunities for real-time collaboration.
The Adobe software provides students with the ability to meet and share information via the web
with peers and professors for enhanced learning. School administrators benefit from the
intuitive Adobe software because they can spend less time traveling across campuses for
meetings. Equally important, faculty can deliver engaging course content online and teach
classes remotely, if necessary.
For example, Professor Jian Wang used Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional to solve a scheduling
problem. During a two-week research trip to Beijing, he delivered two synchronous online lectures
to students in his integrated marketing class on Purdue’s main campus in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The students attended class at their usual time, while Wang delivered his lectures from a small
office in China.
Because the students and Professor Wang had access to web cameras and audio and video
feedback, they could interact with each other in real time. “Acrobat Connect made distance
irrelevant,” said Wang of his Beijing experience. In fact, the next time Wang teaches a global
marketing class, he plans to use Acrobat Connect Pro to enable Purdue students in the United
States to collaborate with university students in China.