Technology in Changing Education Paradigms

Over the last 20 years, there has been a tremendous shift in the way that users integrate technology into their personal lives. These changes have taken time to filter down into the educational sector, but slowly teachers have realized the need to adapt their practice to reflect the changing nature of technological use in the wider world. Today¿s learners have become particularly adapt at creating and collaboratively developing content for a wide variety of purposes, for example, so-called Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, forums, and wikis. Moreover, children and young people are now becoming increasingly interested in the concept of ¿content curation¿ ¿ selecting, showcasing, and sharing content with friends, family, and peers. The change from a ¿read Web¿ to a ¿read/write Web¿ has encouraged teachers to become increasingly inventive in their approach to engaging technologically savvy learners who want to publish their work within an ever-expanding arena. We advocate for evolution in educational practices and approaches to instruction, which not only align with the processes and operations of the world outside of school but also leverage the emerging power and potential of these.