Learning and Technology Policy Framework - Education
Transcript Of Learning and Technology Policy Framework - Education
2013
Learning and Technology Policy Framework
Special thanks to:
School Technology Advisory Committee (STAC) 2013
Member Brian Callaghan Ed Wittchen Jim Gibbons Philip McRae Rik Jesse Jose da Costa Allan Kallal Ken Robitaille John Deausy Michael Barr Cathy Faber Brenda MacDonald Jeff Johnson Leo Turcotte Louise Osland Doug Coffin Sharon Friesen Aziza Jivraj Bette Gray Lyle Roberts Merla Bolender Evan Jones Karen Shipka Sherrie Buchner Greg Bass Karen Andrews, Chair Edna Dach Erin Dobbin Dave Hauschildt Derek McCurdy Ralph Luedtke Michele Jacobsen
Jurisdiction/Organization Alberta School Boards Association Alberta School Boards Association Alberta School Boards Association Alberta Teachers’Association Alberta Technology Leaders in Education Association of Alberta Deans of Education Association of School Business Officials of Alberta Battle River Regional Division No. 31 Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 1 Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 1 Calgary School District No. 19 College of Alberta School Superintendents Council for School Leadership Edmonton Catholic Separate School District No. 7 Edmonton School District No. 7 FNMI and Field Services, Alberta Education Galileo Educational Network Association Information and Technology Management, Alberta Education Learning and Technology Resources, Alberta Education Prairie Rose Regional School Division No. 8 Programs of Study and Resources, Alberta Education Policy and Planning, Alberta Education People and Research, Alberta Education Northland School Division No. 61 Rocky View School Division No. 41 School Technology, Alberta Education School Technology, Alberta Education School Technology, Alberta Education School Technology, Alberta Education School Technology, Alberta Education School Technology, Alberta Education University of Calgary
Writers:
Karen Andrews
2 Edna Dach Cheryl Lemke
School Technology, Alberta Education School Technology, Alberta Education CEO, Metiri Group
For further information, contact: School Technology Branch Alberta Education 10th Floor, 44 Capital Boulevard 10044 – 108 Street Edmonton, AB T5J 5E6 Telephone: (780) 427-9001 or toll-free in Alberta by dialing 310-0000 Fax: (780) 415-1091
This document is available on the Internet at http://www.education.alberta.ca/LTPF
Copyright © 2013 Crown in Right of the Province of Alberta, as represented by the Minister of Education. Permission is hereby given by the copyright holder to use, reproduce, store or transmit this material for educational purposes and on a non-profit basis. However, Crown copyright is to be acknowledged. If this material is to be used, reproduced, stored or transmitted for commercial purposes, arrange first for consent by contacting:
School Technology Branch Alberta Education 10th floor, 44 Capital Boulevard 10044 – 108 Street Edmonton, AB T5J 5E6 Telephone: (780) 427-9001 or toll-free in Alberta by dialing 310-0000 Fax: (780) 415-1091
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
Contents
Executive Summary
4
Introduction8
Policy Direction 1:
Student-Centred Learning
18
Policy Direction 2:
Research and Innovation
23
Policy Direction 3:
Professional Learning
27
Policy Direction 4: Leadership31
Policy Direction 5: Access, Infrastructure and Digital Learning Environments 36
Summary41
3
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
Executive Summary
“Ultimately, the power of technology should be harnessed to support innovation and discovery, not simply to aid teaching. We need to engage learners to use these new technologies as designers and creators of knowledge.” - Inspiring Education: A Dialogue with Albertans
4 4
Inspiring Education: A Dialogue with Albertans (Inspiring Education) envisions a learner-centred, responsive education system with shared responsibility and accountability—one that engages community and provides inclusive, equitable access, flexibility and opportunities for innovation that promote excellence. It anticipates shifts in policy directions in order to build the capacity of the system to focus on students and new competencies.
To enable the new vision of education presented in Inspiring Education, Alberta Education launched a process in fall 2012 to update Alberta’s 2004 Learning and Technology Policy Framework. Between October 2012 and March 2013, the School Technology Advisory Committee (chaired by School Technology Branch, with membership representing the ministry and 17 external stakeholders) and 1500 consultation participants from across the province co-created the updated Learning and Technology Policy Framework. This document represents their voice.
This 2013 Learning and Technology Policy Framework provides leadership and strategic direction for government and school authorities throughout Alberta. The framework guides government and local school authorities in developing policies to help achieve the vision of Inspiring Education through the innovative and effective use of technology in K–12 schools. It provides actions for bringing Inspiring Education to life through the innovative use of technology in learning, teaching, leadership and administration. The framework is intended to ensure coherence and alignment across Alberta’s education system, including classrooms, schools, school authorities, provincial government, education partners, teacher preparation programs and professional organizations.
Five Policy Directions form the core of the framework. They are grounded in the Inspiring Education vision.
Policy Direction 1: Student-Centred Learning Technology is used to support student-centred, personalized, authentic learning for all students.
Policy Direction 2: Research and Innovation Teachers, administrators and other education professionals read, review, participate in, share and apply research and evidence-based practices to sustain and advance innovation in education.
Policy Direction 3: Professional Learning Teachers, administrators and other education professionals develop, maintain and apply the knowledge, skills and attributes that enable them to use technology effectively, efficiently and innovatively in support of learning and teaching.
Policy Direction 4: Leadership Education leaders establish policy and governance structures, cultivate innovation and build capacity within the system to leverage technology in support of student-centred learning and system efficiencies.
Policy Direction 5: Access, Infrastructure and Digital Learning Environments All students, teachers, administrators and other education professionals have access to appropriate devices, reliable infrastructure, high-speed networks and digital learning environments.
5
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
1: Student-Centred Learning
2: Research and Innovation
3: Professional Learning
4: Leadership
5: Access, Infrastructure and Digital Learning Environments
Students use technology, online learning and digital learning to:
a. access, share and create knowledge
b. discover, develop and apply competencies, as described in the Ministerial Order on Student Learning, to enable students to:
• know how to learn
• think critically
• identify and solve complex problems
• manage information
• innovate
• create opportunities
• apply multiple literacies
• demonstrate good communication and cooperation skills
• demonstrate global and cultural understanding
• identify and apply career and life skills
c. develop and apply digital citizenship and technological skills
Teachers, administrators and other education professionals:
a. stay current with educational technology research
b. participate in and apply research to learning and teaching
c. use data systems and evidence-based reasoning to monitor and support personalized, studentcentred learning
In Alberta’s education system:
d. educational technology research is supported
e. decision-making related to technology is informed by data and research
f. technology investments are targeted to areas of greatest effectiveness and need
Digitally confident teachers, administrators and other education professionals:
a. are well prepared to use technology and digital resources innovatively and effectively for learning, teaching, leadership and administration
b. use technology and research to design personalized, authentic and student-centred learning opportunities to meet the diverse needs and interests of all students
c. engage in professional growth opportunities that are broadened and diversified through technology, social media and communities of practice
Education leaders at all levels champion effective and innovative uses of technology for all schools. As a result:
a. government and school authorities have clarity and coherence in the policies and procedures that govern educational and administrative uses of technology in all schools
b. teachers, administrators and other education professionals use technology innovatively, effectively and efficiently
c. economies of scale that achieve cost effectiveness and efficiencies in educational technology are realized
d. up-to-date guidelines and standards on uses of technology inform school authority education plans
Students, teachers, administrators and other education professionals have support for and equitable access to:
a. devices and peripherals
b. digital learning environments
c. facilities designed to maximize learning with technology
In Alberta’s education system:
d. reliable infrastructures exist that support safe, secure, efficient, interoperable and sustainable networks
e. technology and network governance, policy and procedures ensure access essential to achieving the vision of Inspiring Education
f. appropriate technology is available and supported
d. demonstrate what they know and are able to do through effectively using a range of resources and media
e. monitor their learning
progress and inform
decisions through the use
of data and evidence-
6
based reasoning
Learning and Technology Policy Framework Outcomes
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
The context for each policy direction includes a rationale/research base, associated outcomes and a set of actions for the provincial government and school authorities. The outcomes serve as targets to guide Alberta’s journey towards achieving the vision of Inspiring Education. The outcomes will be accomplished by implementing the recommended actions, which reflect the principles guiding Alberta’s education system (see figure below).
This updated policy framework is intended to serve as a policy development guide to help government and Alberta school authorities achieve the vision of Inspiring Education through the innovative and effective use of technology in K–12 schools. The first decade of the 21st century saw a convergence of affordable and innovative technologies, sophisticated web applications and sound research on how people best learn. The inspiration and rationale for this framework comes from that convergence—in the context of the pioneering work that has come before it. The province is well-positioned for innovation in K–12 education, with a focus on empowering students to thrive in the 21st century.
The full Learning and Technology Policy Framework can be downloaded at http://education.alberta.ca/media/7645220/learningand-technology-policy-framework.pdf
Vision
informs
Policy Directions
guides Actions
Model for a Policy Framework
7
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
leads to Outcomes
advances
Introduction
Today’s generation has seen the rise of knowledge as a key resource of the world’s economy. In the future, Alberta’s economy will be even more knowledge-based, diverse and grounded in value-added industries. As never before, the next generation will need to be innovative, creative and skilled in managing knowledge as a resource. It will experience a world increasingly interdependent and competitive … To truly transform education, the education system must empower innovation throughout the province. - Inspiring Education
8
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
Captured in Inspiring Education1 is a vision for education that represents the voice of thousands of Albertans about how to ensure success for students. Inspiring Education calls for more studentcentred, personalized, authentic learning experiences that will result in youth becoming engaged thinkers and ethical citizens, with an entrepreneurial spirit. This vision calls for an education system that is significantly different from that of yesterday and today. One of the critical differences will be the innovative use of technology to bring this vision to life in schools across Alberta. Such transformation will require bold, innovative leadership guided by a shared vision for learning.
Technology plays a role in realizing this vision. First and foremost, technology has fueled many innovations that have had a tremendous influence on societies and economies across the globe. It has significantly changed the way people live, work and communicate. Technology also provides the opportunity to personalize learning and to engage students in deep, authentic learning that enables them to learn about what matters to them—at their own pace and regardless of place or time.
As a result of the need to shift from the use of technology to support teaching toward the use of technology by students to create and share knowledge, Alberta Education began the work of updating the 2004 Learning and Technology Policy Framework.
Policy Shifts of Inspiring Education
9
1 Alberta Education. (2010). Inspiring Education: A Dialogue with Albertans. Edmonton,
AB: Alberta Education.
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
The Opportunity
Educators now have more access to technologies and emergent research on how people best learn. The opportunity for optimizing technology resides in three key imperatives—the economic, the cognitive and the social.
The economic imperative
Technology, in combination with human ingenuity, has fueled tremendous societal and economic shifts across the globe. Technologies are woven into the fabric of today’s society and, as such, must be integrated into the fabric of Alberta’s education system.
Alberta has led the nation in average annual economic growth for two decades. It is staged to continue that trend in 2013.2 While the energy sector is Alberta’s driving economic force, the province is becoming increasingly economically diversified through advances in fields such as petrochemicals, agriculture, forest products, industrial machinery, tourism and information and communications technologies. Alberta Innovates, a branch of the Alberta Research and Innovation Authority (ARIA), is focused on solving the world’s biggest problems with the best in research and innovation. This will require graduates from Alberta’s schools who are ready to engage in critical and creative thinking, innovation and entrepreneurship.
10 2 AElcboenrotamEyn2te0r1p3r.isAecacnedssAeddv0a2n/c2e5d/1E3dfurocmatihotntp. :(/2/a0l1b3e)r.taHcigahnlaigdhat.scoomf t/hfieleAs/lberta
albertacanada/SP-EH_highlightsABEconomyPresentation.pdf.
The cognitive imperative
Research from the learning sciences, psychology and neuroscience provides a sound basis for shifting the focus of schools to the student through personalization and authentic learning experiences. The research is clear—students learn best when they:
• learn in the context of the real world, where their academic studies help them make sense of the real world
• are self-directed in their learning • learn collaboratively • exercise some choice in their learning • exercise some control in the pace of their learning • receive immediate feedback targeted to scaffold their learning • build on their prior knowledge base • learn with instructional multimedia that is interactive and expertly
designed • are taught by teachers who personalize their learning to address
personal interests, meet personal needs and offer novelty and variety in learning
Most of these research findings are difficult to scale to all students without technology, and most are not possible to accomplish routinely without technology. The technology enables student-centred learning focused on new competencies. In turn, studies show a connection between the teaching of higher order thinking in classrooms with a region’s economic viability.3
3 Hanushek, E. A., & Woessmann, L. (2008). The role of cognitive skills in economic development. Journal of Economic Literature, 46(3), 607-668.
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
Learning and Technology Policy Framework
Special thanks to:
School Technology Advisory Committee (STAC) 2013
Member Brian Callaghan Ed Wittchen Jim Gibbons Philip McRae Rik Jesse Jose da Costa Allan Kallal Ken Robitaille John Deausy Michael Barr Cathy Faber Brenda MacDonald Jeff Johnson Leo Turcotte Louise Osland Doug Coffin Sharon Friesen Aziza Jivraj Bette Gray Lyle Roberts Merla Bolender Evan Jones Karen Shipka Sherrie Buchner Greg Bass Karen Andrews, Chair Edna Dach Erin Dobbin Dave Hauschildt Derek McCurdy Ralph Luedtke Michele Jacobsen
Jurisdiction/Organization Alberta School Boards Association Alberta School Boards Association Alberta School Boards Association Alberta Teachers’Association Alberta Technology Leaders in Education Association of Alberta Deans of Education Association of School Business Officials of Alberta Battle River Regional Division No. 31 Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 1 Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 1 Calgary School District No. 19 College of Alberta School Superintendents Council for School Leadership Edmonton Catholic Separate School District No. 7 Edmonton School District No. 7 FNMI and Field Services, Alberta Education Galileo Educational Network Association Information and Technology Management, Alberta Education Learning and Technology Resources, Alberta Education Prairie Rose Regional School Division No. 8 Programs of Study and Resources, Alberta Education Policy and Planning, Alberta Education People and Research, Alberta Education Northland School Division No. 61 Rocky View School Division No. 41 School Technology, Alberta Education School Technology, Alberta Education School Technology, Alberta Education School Technology, Alberta Education School Technology, Alberta Education School Technology, Alberta Education University of Calgary
Writers:
Karen Andrews
2 Edna Dach Cheryl Lemke
School Technology, Alberta Education School Technology, Alberta Education CEO, Metiri Group
For further information, contact: School Technology Branch Alberta Education 10th Floor, 44 Capital Boulevard 10044 – 108 Street Edmonton, AB T5J 5E6 Telephone: (780) 427-9001 or toll-free in Alberta by dialing 310-0000 Fax: (780) 415-1091
This document is available on the Internet at http://www.education.alberta.ca/LTPF
Copyright © 2013 Crown in Right of the Province of Alberta, as represented by the Minister of Education. Permission is hereby given by the copyright holder to use, reproduce, store or transmit this material for educational purposes and on a non-profit basis. However, Crown copyright is to be acknowledged. If this material is to be used, reproduced, stored or transmitted for commercial purposes, arrange first for consent by contacting:
School Technology Branch Alberta Education 10th floor, 44 Capital Boulevard 10044 – 108 Street Edmonton, AB T5J 5E6 Telephone: (780) 427-9001 or toll-free in Alberta by dialing 310-0000 Fax: (780) 415-1091
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
Contents
Executive Summary
4
Introduction8
Policy Direction 1:
Student-Centred Learning
18
Policy Direction 2:
Research and Innovation
23
Policy Direction 3:
Professional Learning
27
Policy Direction 4: Leadership31
Policy Direction 5: Access, Infrastructure and Digital Learning Environments 36
Summary41
3
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
Executive Summary
“Ultimately, the power of technology should be harnessed to support innovation and discovery, not simply to aid teaching. We need to engage learners to use these new technologies as designers and creators of knowledge.” - Inspiring Education: A Dialogue with Albertans
4 4
Inspiring Education: A Dialogue with Albertans (Inspiring Education) envisions a learner-centred, responsive education system with shared responsibility and accountability—one that engages community and provides inclusive, equitable access, flexibility and opportunities for innovation that promote excellence. It anticipates shifts in policy directions in order to build the capacity of the system to focus on students and new competencies.
To enable the new vision of education presented in Inspiring Education, Alberta Education launched a process in fall 2012 to update Alberta’s 2004 Learning and Technology Policy Framework. Between October 2012 and March 2013, the School Technology Advisory Committee (chaired by School Technology Branch, with membership representing the ministry and 17 external stakeholders) and 1500 consultation participants from across the province co-created the updated Learning and Technology Policy Framework. This document represents their voice.
This 2013 Learning and Technology Policy Framework provides leadership and strategic direction for government and school authorities throughout Alberta. The framework guides government and local school authorities in developing policies to help achieve the vision of Inspiring Education through the innovative and effective use of technology in K–12 schools. It provides actions for bringing Inspiring Education to life through the innovative use of technology in learning, teaching, leadership and administration. The framework is intended to ensure coherence and alignment across Alberta’s education system, including classrooms, schools, school authorities, provincial government, education partners, teacher preparation programs and professional organizations.
Five Policy Directions form the core of the framework. They are grounded in the Inspiring Education vision.
Policy Direction 1: Student-Centred Learning Technology is used to support student-centred, personalized, authentic learning for all students.
Policy Direction 2: Research and Innovation Teachers, administrators and other education professionals read, review, participate in, share and apply research and evidence-based practices to sustain and advance innovation in education.
Policy Direction 3: Professional Learning Teachers, administrators and other education professionals develop, maintain and apply the knowledge, skills and attributes that enable them to use technology effectively, efficiently and innovatively in support of learning and teaching.
Policy Direction 4: Leadership Education leaders establish policy and governance structures, cultivate innovation and build capacity within the system to leverage technology in support of student-centred learning and system efficiencies.
Policy Direction 5: Access, Infrastructure and Digital Learning Environments All students, teachers, administrators and other education professionals have access to appropriate devices, reliable infrastructure, high-speed networks and digital learning environments.
5
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
1: Student-Centred Learning
2: Research and Innovation
3: Professional Learning
4: Leadership
5: Access, Infrastructure and Digital Learning Environments
Students use technology, online learning and digital learning to:
a. access, share and create knowledge
b. discover, develop and apply competencies, as described in the Ministerial Order on Student Learning, to enable students to:
• know how to learn
• think critically
• identify and solve complex problems
• manage information
• innovate
• create opportunities
• apply multiple literacies
• demonstrate good communication and cooperation skills
• demonstrate global and cultural understanding
• identify and apply career and life skills
c. develop and apply digital citizenship and technological skills
Teachers, administrators and other education professionals:
a. stay current with educational technology research
b. participate in and apply research to learning and teaching
c. use data systems and evidence-based reasoning to monitor and support personalized, studentcentred learning
In Alberta’s education system:
d. educational technology research is supported
e. decision-making related to technology is informed by data and research
f. technology investments are targeted to areas of greatest effectiveness and need
Digitally confident teachers, administrators and other education professionals:
a. are well prepared to use technology and digital resources innovatively and effectively for learning, teaching, leadership and administration
b. use technology and research to design personalized, authentic and student-centred learning opportunities to meet the diverse needs and interests of all students
c. engage in professional growth opportunities that are broadened and diversified through technology, social media and communities of practice
Education leaders at all levels champion effective and innovative uses of technology for all schools. As a result:
a. government and school authorities have clarity and coherence in the policies and procedures that govern educational and administrative uses of technology in all schools
b. teachers, administrators and other education professionals use technology innovatively, effectively and efficiently
c. economies of scale that achieve cost effectiveness and efficiencies in educational technology are realized
d. up-to-date guidelines and standards on uses of technology inform school authority education plans
Students, teachers, administrators and other education professionals have support for and equitable access to:
a. devices and peripherals
b. digital learning environments
c. facilities designed to maximize learning with technology
In Alberta’s education system:
d. reliable infrastructures exist that support safe, secure, efficient, interoperable and sustainable networks
e. technology and network governance, policy and procedures ensure access essential to achieving the vision of Inspiring Education
f. appropriate technology is available and supported
d. demonstrate what they know and are able to do through effectively using a range of resources and media
e. monitor their learning
progress and inform
decisions through the use
of data and evidence-
6
based reasoning
Learning and Technology Policy Framework Outcomes
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
The context for each policy direction includes a rationale/research base, associated outcomes and a set of actions for the provincial government and school authorities. The outcomes serve as targets to guide Alberta’s journey towards achieving the vision of Inspiring Education. The outcomes will be accomplished by implementing the recommended actions, which reflect the principles guiding Alberta’s education system (see figure below).
This updated policy framework is intended to serve as a policy development guide to help government and Alberta school authorities achieve the vision of Inspiring Education through the innovative and effective use of technology in K–12 schools. The first decade of the 21st century saw a convergence of affordable and innovative technologies, sophisticated web applications and sound research on how people best learn. The inspiration and rationale for this framework comes from that convergence—in the context of the pioneering work that has come before it. The province is well-positioned for innovation in K–12 education, with a focus on empowering students to thrive in the 21st century.
The full Learning and Technology Policy Framework can be downloaded at http://education.alberta.ca/media/7645220/learningand-technology-policy-framework.pdf
Vision
informs
Policy Directions
guides Actions
Model for a Policy Framework
7
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
leads to Outcomes
advances
Introduction
Today’s generation has seen the rise of knowledge as a key resource of the world’s economy. In the future, Alberta’s economy will be even more knowledge-based, diverse and grounded in value-added industries. As never before, the next generation will need to be innovative, creative and skilled in managing knowledge as a resource. It will experience a world increasingly interdependent and competitive … To truly transform education, the education system must empower innovation throughout the province. - Inspiring Education
8
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
Captured in Inspiring Education1 is a vision for education that represents the voice of thousands of Albertans about how to ensure success for students. Inspiring Education calls for more studentcentred, personalized, authentic learning experiences that will result in youth becoming engaged thinkers and ethical citizens, with an entrepreneurial spirit. This vision calls for an education system that is significantly different from that of yesterday and today. One of the critical differences will be the innovative use of technology to bring this vision to life in schools across Alberta. Such transformation will require bold, innovative leadership guided by a shared vision for learning.
Technology plays a role in realizing this vision. First and foremost, technology has fueled many innovations that have had a tremendous influence on societies and economies across the globe. It has significantly changed the way people live, work and communicate. Technology also provides the opportunity to personalize learning and to engage students in deep, authentic learning that enables them to learn about what matters to them—at their own pace and regardless of place or time.
As a result of the need to shift from the use of technology to support teaching toward the use of technology by students to create and share knowledge, Alberta Education began the work of updating the 2004 Learning and Technology Policy Framework.
Policy Shifts of Inspiring Education
9
1 Alberta Education. (2010). Inspiring Education: A Dialogue with Albertans. Edmonton,
AB: Alberta Education.
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013
The Opportunity
Educators now have more access to technologies and emergent research on how people best learn. The opportunity for optimizing technology resides in three key imperatives—the economic, the cognitive and the social.
The economic imperative
Technology, in combination with human ingenuity, has fueled tremendous societal and economic shifts across the globe. Technologies are woven into the fabric of today’s society and, as such, must be integrated into the fabric of Alberta’s education system.
Alberta has led the nation in average annual economic growth for two decades. It is staged to continue that trend in 2013.2 While the energy sector is Alberta’s driving economic force, the province is becoming increasingly economically diversified through advances in fields such as petrochemicals, agriculture, forest products, industrial machinery, tourism and information and communications technologies. Alberta Innovates, a branch of the Alberta Research and Innovation Authority (ARIA), is focused on solving the world’s biggest problems with the best in research and innovation. This will require graduates from Alberta’s schools who are ready to engage in critical and creative thinking, innovation and entrepreneurship.
10 2 AElcboenrotamEyn2te0r1p3r.isAecacnedssAeddv0a2n/c2e5d/1E3dfurocmatihotntp. :(/2/a0l1b3e)r.taHcigahnlaigdhat.scoomf t/hfieleAs/lberta
albertacanada/SP-EH_highlightsABEconomyPresentation.pdf.
The cognitive imperative
Research from the learning sciences, psychology and neuroscience provides a sound basis for shifting the focus of schools to the student through personalization and authentic learning experiences. The research is clear—students learn best when they:
• learn in the context of the real world, where their academic studies help them make sense of the real world
• are self-directed in their learning • learn collaboratively • exercise some choice in their learning • exercise some control in the pace of their learning • receive immediate feedback targeted to scaffold their learning • build on their prior knowledge base • learn with instructional multimedia that is interactive and expertly
designed • are taught by teachers who personalize their learning to address
personal interests, meet personal needs and offer novelty and variety in learning
Most of these research findings are difficult to scale to all students without technology, and most are not possible to accomplish routinely without technology. The technology enables student-centred learning focused on new competencies. In turn, studies show a connection between the teaching of higher order thinking in classrooms with a region’s economic viability.3
3 Hanushek, E. A., & Woessmann, L. (2008). The role of cognitive skills in economic development. Journal of Economic Literature, 46(3), 607-668.
Learning and Technology Policy Framework 2013