As you strive to educate today’s students in a way that will prepare them for an unknown future, it might be clear to you that the responsible and effective use of technology should be of utmost importance. Nearly every facet of our student’s lives has been affected by technology. I hope in mostly positive ways. So it should follow that their educations should also be positively impacted.

To those of us active in understanding the trends of education in the 21st century, the use of new tools and media afforded by new technology is a forgone conclusion. Also, it seems very clear to me that we want our teachers and students to become familiar with the technologies faced and embraced in today’s society. But how do we stress the importance, and model these behaviors so that others might share in this vision.

I recently sent an open ended email to some of my colleagues with a question about a recurring theme I keep running into.  I often see it stated that: “Technology is most effective when it is transparent”.  To me this is both obvious and perplexing at the same time.  As we look to engage our students and bring the content they need in the formats they desire, how do we make the need for new skill sets and tools obvious if they are “supposed” to be unseen?

Many of the responses I received recommended video or other similar examples of “best practice” and peer or community development. I quickly realized we wouldn’t have to look very far to find these things. Luckily, we have many dedicated and forward thinking educators right here that have been doing just this for a long time, and getting results that validate their efforts. Many teachers have been leading the way for years by exploring new delivery methods and developing strategies that encourage collaboration and produce amazing results.

I invite your comments to discuss some of our successes and the challenges that have been laid out in front of us as we move further into this unknown future.