Designing and developing digital age learning experiences

In the effort to continue to look at the ISTE standards for technology integration, the focus of this writing is on design and development. The standard for teachers outlines how lessons should not only become digital, but become relevant to individual learners. Much like the SAMR model, these standards ask teacher not simply to replace a traditional learning task with a digital equivalent, but to create a learning experience beyond what is possible with traditional methods. The power of this standard is in the relevance to the student. Individualized, collaborative, and project-based, these learning experiences are rich with meaning and highly engaging.

Working with tech coaches and the technology integrationist, teachers can stretch their lessons further without losing the ability to personally connect with students or lose the rigor of the lesson. Done well, designing digitally enhanced lessons will enrich the rigor and relevance to students, often with little or no extra work on the part of the teacher. We simply change the work we are doing to help students better understand the learning targets of the lesson. There are many resources to help in this effort. Too often, teachers only call on the technology department when things go wrong. Ideally, the technology department is working side-by-side with teacher to develop quality digital-age instruction, and assisting in the execution of these lessons. We welcome the opportunity to assist teachers and students in meeting their integration goals!