As we think about our available instructional tools (hardware, software, and even web-based), we should be thinking about how we can best utilize these tools to redefine what learning looks like in our classrooms. Most of our colleagues begin using a new instructional tool as a process substitute (bottom of the green column in the graphic below). Instead of students handwriting a reflection and turning it in, students type the reflection, print it out, and turn it in. Basically, the student is completing the same task. Has the word processing tool really generated a new learning task that did not exist before?
How can instructional media transform what digital teaching and learning looks like? How can we utilize our available tools to create entirely new engaging tasks that were not previously possible without instructional technology? How can we collaborate with our colleagues to move them up the transformation chart?
- graphic from from eLearning in Action -