Important Best Practices For Technology in Education

Over the years, the way teachers educate their students has changed. One of the factors that has influenced a change in education is technology. The implementation of it has been adapted little by little. There was a time when books, pencils, colors, and notebooks were the main resources for teachers and students. Years later, other tools like the typewriter and the computer came to revolutionize classrooms. With the computer came other more sophisticated tools and programs. All of these have influenced teachers on transforming the way classrooms work today. Without noticing it, technology has shaped the way some teachers approach their students and parents,how assessments are done, and even how children unfold in the learning community.

Along with innovation came the responsibility of using the available technological tools in a proper manner.
The idea of best practices for technology in education involves the implementation of technology in beneficial ways for students and teachers. The article Best Practices in Education Technology by Charles Fadel offers a detailed list of techniques used by some teachers around the globe that are revolutionizing the way students learn. According to this article, there are different tools being used for taking education to a new level. The best way technology is being implemented in schools is as a support for learning. Rafi.ki and NotSchool are two of them. The first brings together a community of learners around the world to learn about local and global issues. This enables learners to be aware of diversity and appreciate different point of views. NotSchool is being implemented as a way to reengage students and places them as researchers and administrators of their own learning. These two approaches, and many others mentioned in the article, are "challenging traditional school structures".  In other practices mentioned in the article, the teacher becomes the guide and even a co-learner with the students. Some of these practices focus on collaboration and participation, as well as helping students take control over their own learning. This could benefit students by helping them feel self-sufficient. It can also work as a way to let students know how to take advantage of the technological tools that this society provides for them. That way, they will be equipped with the ability to become independent and self-sufficient. The idea of all of these practices is to reinvent the way we teach our students by making technology a huge part of it.

 "The future may hold less fitting technology to existing systems of curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment,
and more transforming education."(Charles Fadel, Best Practices in Education. 2010)

Best Practices in Education Technology
Information on NotSchool
Not School Video