Technology and the New Paradigm of Education

Abstract

The use of technology in education should be based on what we know about how students learn best and how we can best facilitate that learning. Tools should be selected based on purposes or functions to be served, not the other way around. In our current educational system, student progress to a new topic is based on time, not on learning. If it is Monday, we move on to the next topic, in spite of some students not having attained the standards just taught. This system is sorting-focused (which was appropriate for the Industrial Age when manual labor was predominant), not learning-focused (which is needed for the Information Age when knowledge work is predominant. A learning-focused system would not allow a student to move on until she or he succeeded in attaining the current standard. And it would require each student to move on as soon as he or she succeeded in attaining the current standard. This requires a completely different paradigm of education, one that is customized to meet each student’s needs and potential. This requires a different role for teachers, students, and, yes, technology. Rather