5+Socio-Technology+Trends

Five Socio-Technology Trends that Change Everything in Learning and Teaching
Stephen Wilmarth

Technology tools and access to information have changed the classroom. We can't think the same about teaching and learning. "New technologies combined with social and cultural adaptations fundamentally change our understanding of knowledge, its creation and authority" (p. 80). "As educators, we have a duty to examine the effect of these trends and respond to the question, 'What does it mean to be educated in the 21st century?'" (p. 81). Our students are connected and learning is social; new technologies require us to redefine the notion of literacy.
 * Summary:**

"What we thought we knew about learning and teaching, and the cathedral-like, elegant, top-down, complex systems we designed to support formal processes of learning and teaching, just may not be the relevant model. We may have to reimagine a model that will behave more organically" (p. 95).
 * Point to ponder:**


 * Discussion Connections:**

Matthew shared that considering the information statistics alone (Google), that our students are living in a time of easy access to information and experiencing the need to become more information literate. Ann shared that even as adults, we've become more social through social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook; we now need to learn how to leverage the ever growing number of Web 2.0 tools for learning in the classroom.

It was exciting to learn about Pennsylvania's Keystone Commons (Facebook for students and educators in PA) where participants have learned to use safe social networking tools to now explore collaboration on 21st century projects throughout the state.

These brief discussions show us that we need to rethink the definition of literacy. Our students are going to have access to more and more technology tools and information than ever before. How do we ensure that our taught curriculum provides students authentic opportunities to use these technologies while supporting our students to learn the skills necessary to be successful beyond our school walls?

Wilmarth, S. (2010). Five socio-technology trends. In H. H. Jacobs (Ed.), //Curriculum 21// (pp. 80-96). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.