21st Century Classrooms

It's the 21st century and we need to provide 21st century tools to our 21st century learners who will grow up to be 21st century workers in a 21st century world.

Kids still need to know how to hold a pencil and write a sentence, draw with crayons, and cut with scissors. But our 21st century tools are what they'll be using when they grow up so how can we find a balance here?

I was looking at some sites where teachers are participating in collaborative projects. They show examples of student work, pictures of students at work on their projects and so on. But, the student work was hand written, hand drawn and scanned to be placed on the website and the pictures show students using crayons and pencils to create their projects. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that!

But some would say...maybe these students don't have the access to technology that they need, maybe their teacher doesn't have the technology skills even with access. And others might say...If taxpayers buy thousands of dollars worth of textbooks, what do they expect to see teachers doing with those textbooks? And, if taxpayers buy thousand of dollars worth of computers and related equipment, what should they expect to see teachers doing with that equipment?

No easy answers here...just thinking!