Tech Trends 2010
We know that technology is changing... fast and getting faster... if we were physics students we would talk about the acceleration of technology change... calculus students we would talk about the first derivative... I'm glad we are not physics or calculus students.
It is necessary, however, for 21st century educators to understand:
1) If you learned how to use computers as long ago as six months, and you have been avoiding technology since, you are probably working with old skills. We need to keep an eye to the light approaching us from down the tunnel... that light is a the train of information technology changes... our students are probably on that train now (or they will jump on as it arrives and passes). If we understand that technology bearing down on us, we have a better chance of not being run over by the train.
2) Some of this may seem disconnected from what you do. Consider that the purpose of schools has traditionally been to prepare young people (and others) to access information and interact in their society. To fully participate in the communication world in which they are going to live, today's K-12 students must have the opportunity to use emerging technologies to explore and learn the curriculum we teach.
This site was prepared in the late winter and early spring of 2010. It will surely be out of date before it is finished. This was prepared as a follow-up to a presentation Gary Ackerman gave in 2009.
Here is the 2009 Presentation: