Tag Archives: 21st Century
The Classroom Evolution: What Technology Means for 21st Century Teaching by Alvin Crawford was originally posted on GettingSmart.com. Digital media use in the classroom has been proven to expand students’ critical and creative thinking skills, to increase motivation and self-esteem, and to develop skills needed for the modern world. As schools increasingly incorporate technology [...]
My son Benjamin is seven years old. He loves the computer, the television, my smart phone, video games…pretty much anything with a screen. He watched his share of PBS Sprout as a toddler. He loves to play Tiny Wings and Angry Birds on my phone. Is screen time rotting his brain? It’s a question I ask myself regularly.
When Benjamin was three, I remember conversations with friends about how much TV we should let our kids watch, when to introduce them to the computer, and what kinds of video games are appropriate (if any). We touted “no TV during the week” and “1/2 hour of screen time a day total” as if we were protecting our kids from something evil. I felt guilty for every moment Benjamin spent in front of a screen, like I was somehow failing as a parent. When it came to computer time, in particular, I really struggled.
Recently I had the opportunity to hear Alan November speak at the Texas Association of School Administrators conference in Austin. I’ve heard him before and he always has new insights. A few days before seeing him, I had read a blog entry that challenged the idea that 21st Century learning would be any different than learning in any other era. While I agree, as a historian, that a century is an arbitrary designation to signal the beginning or end of an era, I think Alan has put his finger on how technology has enabled a sharp break from the previous era in education to the one which has been emerging for the past 15 years or so.
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