“Why don’t you type up your writing assignment like you do your stories?” I asked my 13 year old daughter a few weeks ago. Her response shocked me. “I have to write it up at school by hand, so why use the computer?” she replied. My daughter publishes her stories and poems online via a wiki, but has given up trying to turn her assignments in via a blog or wiki…her teacher won’t accept them. One reason to change, that’s all we need.

A recent Pew Research study showed that twelve to seventeen year olds share what they think and do online, while one in five teens remix content from a variety of sources, synthesizing and making new creations. Yet, when these children get to school, they are forced to engage in irrelevant activities with no real audience, without the technology they have learned to use and without appropriate role models. One reason to change, that’s all we need.

The study also found that 56 per cent of young people in America were using computers for “creative activities, writing and posting of the internet, mixing and constructing multimedia and developing their own content.” Research and technology are driving profound changes in expectations for the use of technology in schools. These are embodied in the International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE) National Education Technology Standards (NETS) for students AND teachers. One reason to change, that’s all we need.

Schools are expected to overcome obstacles and help children develop skills required in a digital world to “produce and innovate” using technology. The revised standards are organized into six categories: creativity and innovation; communication and collaboration; research and information retrieval; critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making; digital citizenship; and technology operations and concepts.

Under communication and collaboration, you will find:

Students…
(A) collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and others employing a variety of digital media and formats
Example: Expert Voices – http://expertvoices.wikispaces.com/

(B) communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences utilizing a variety of media and formats
Example: Flat Classroom Project – http://flatclassroomproject.wikispaces.com/

(C) develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.
Example: International Teen Life – http://internationalteenlife.pbwiki.com/

and

(D) contribute to project teams to produce original works.
Example: 1001 Flat World Tales Project – https://burell9english.wikispaces.com/

This is work that is done, not in isolation, but in collaboration with others outside of school. Click on the links above to see examples of each.

“These teens,” shares Lee Raine, “were born into a digital world where they expect to be able to create, consume, remix, and share material with each other and lots of strangers.” One reason to change, that’s all we need.

What should schools be doing? Should they ban the technologies children use at home in school, or model appropriate use in school? And, as education leaders, what are the implications for us?

If not for the children you serve, but for your son, your daughter, your precious grandchild, change. One reason to change, that’s all we need.