Digital technology seems to be everywhere – from the phone in your hand to the tablet you order lunch on – people have become accustomed to the ease these technologies offer. Why should learning be any different? In recent years, digital learning has been explored in high schools and colleges and is offering both students and teachers a flexible, productive learning environment. Seeing these benefits, schools across the nation are undergoing a digital revival. Read on to learn more.
Today’s college students aren’t just digitally inclined, they are digital natives and campuses must adapt to meet their needs. Is this realistic for the average college or university? Take the University of Texas at Austin for example. The university attempted to redesign classes to live online and after months of planning funding and support for the program dwindled.
This example may make colleges and universities question the decision to go digital, but to stay relevant, it is a necessary transition. Joan Rubin, the Dexter Perkins Professor of History and the Ani and Mark Gabrellian Director of the University of Rochester Humanities Center, Jayne Lammers, associate professor at the Warner School of Education and associate director of the Center for Learning in the Digital Age, and Emily Sherwood, director of the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Rochester, discuss being an educator in the digital age.
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Digital Learning is Not Different
For Jon Fila, the Curriculum Coordinator-Innovation Coach and English/Language Arts Instructor for Northern Star Online, an online school that offers public high school classes, digital learning is no different than in-person classes. Jon, a speaker at the recent Digital Learning Annual Conference (DLAC), discussed the impact of technology on todays’ students and educators.
“There are so many important reasons why digital learning benefits both students and teachers. I prefer to use the term “learning” instead of digital learning. We don’t really refer to textbooks as paper-based or pencil-based learning. At one time, those things were just as disruptive. We’re on a continuum and when we have more efficient tools and resources then those can be brought into the classroom,” said Fila.
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Colleges and universities across the country are undertaking ambitious online learning activities. Schools like Arizona State and Southern New Hampshire University have paved the way for online higher ed. What must other schools do to make the switch? Interactive online portals, apps, and smart campuses are just a few steps in the right direction.
“The time for us to act is now,” Marty Meehan, president of the University of Massachusetts. “It’s predicted that over the next several years four to five major national players with strong regional footholds will be established. We intend to be one of them.”
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