Technology and the Common Core:

There are over 90 Common Core Standards that directly call for students to "use technology and digital media strategically and capably". As summarized in the Standards:
  • Students employ technology thoughtfully to enhance their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use.
  • They tailor their searches online to acquire useful information efficiently, and they integrate what they learn using technology with what they learn offline.
  • They are familiar with the strengths and limitations of various technological tools and mediums and can select and use those best suited to their communication goals.   (CCSS, 2013, March. page vii)

In addition, many of the other Common Core Standards can be supported and developed in a technology-rich environment.
The demand on teachers to satisfy Common Core requirements and integrate technology in a meaningful way is enormous. Any viable approach must start with clarity of curricular philosophy and objectives. Teachers must understand their particular learning goals in the context of their discipline, sort through the overwhelming number of offerings, extract those with potential, learn and test the applications, and effectively build lessons that keep the learning goals, and not the technology, at the center.

Common Core Themes:

These Common Core skills related to digital media can enhance the curriculum of almost any course of study (paraphrased):
  • Use text and internet search tools to locate information
  • Gather information from print and digital sources
  • Analyze how multimedia elements contribute to meaning, tone or beauty of a text
  • Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats
  • Integrate information while avoiding plagiarism from primary and secondary sources
  • Use technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing.
  • Use technology to interact and collaborate with others
  • Take advantage of technology's capacity to link and display information flexibly and dynamically
  • Integrate multimedia displays into presentations

Engagement with Technology:

There are a variety of valuable digital tools that support these Common Core Standards:
  • Web Search: Search engines, reference sources, web site evaluation
  • Web Resources: Web annotation, bookmarking and retrieval tools, web aggregators
  • Online collaboration:  Wikis, social networking, writing/editing
  • Presentation tools: website-creation, screen-casting, digital story-telling, multimedia presentation platforms
  • Data: Data analysis and presentation tools
  • Writing tools: Bibliographic citation builders, note-taking, outline-creation apps
  • Teaching resources: Flipped classroom, online resource organization, lesson builders, in-class technology support
I provide training through workshops and on-site professional development in these and other digital tools that support deep, meaningful learning.