Creating Active Learners First

If you are a regular visitor to principalaim, you know how important educational technology is to me; however, educational technology means more to me than simply employing the latest bells and whistles approach to technology use. I believe that at its best educational technology provides instructional support while extending the academic curriculum. This is where it gets tricky – technology alone does not guarantee student engagement. Even the best technology is limited in what it can do when students are unplugged or lack interest in their learning. Therefore, when thinking about how to personalize learning, through the use of technology, we have to first help students get engaged in the learning process. “Personalized learning, says Krista Moroder of Digital Promise Schools, isn’t our end goal.” Creating learners is.” Krista’s idea really got me thinking because I believe it is the goal of education to teach children how to learn (in order to become real-world thinkers). Therefore, I would argue creating learners is essential and often depends on the school. How can schools help to create active learners? Schools often accomplish this goal when risk taking is the norm, students and teachers are given ample time to build authentic relationships with one another, and students are given opportunities to be responsible for their own learning (this is where the personalized learning comes into play for me). Ultimately, I see the importance of personalized learning in the 21^st century classroom yet it is “just the approach we use to get there.” If we do not teach our students how to be active learners, we will continue to miss the mark with students because I truly believe technology alone will never be enough. tlb

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