3.3: Technologies
Technologies To Empower 21st Century Learning Other Information:
In the NITRD vision, IT capabilities yet to be invented will play as critical a role in education as existing IT capabilities
already play in advanced scientific discovery. Today’s notions of “learning technologies” will give way to concepts informed
by new knowledge about the biochemistry of the human brain and about how the human mind develops and acquires, stores, and
uses information in perceiving, thinking, and acting. Such advances in neuroscience, and parallel gains in educational and
social-science research as well as in machine intelligence, will provide a basis for learning systems tailored to individuals
at every stage of cognitive development. The personalized learning system might, for example, constantly capture and update
all knowledge about how individuals best learn and retain information and operationalize that knowledge in cyber tools customized
for each learner. A set of cyber tools covering all domains of knowledge would be made widely available. The key aspect of
these advanced cyber technologies would be their ability, through interactions with a specific individual, to adaptively recognize
that person’s particular characteristics as a learner and adjust the learning experience accordingly. Teachers would no longer
just “stand and deliver” but could spend more time coaching and counseling individuals and leading hands-on activities. Where
we are now: While most U.S. schools have computers and Internet connectivity, the availability of this infrastructure for
teaching varies widely by school district and type of classroom. Studies suggest that the majority of teachers do not regularly
use computing capabilities in classroom lessons; they most commonly use IT to find lesson plans and teaching ideas online.
The increasing number of professional organizations of teacher educators and practicing teachers interested in using technology
indicates growing awareness of the IT potential, and schools of education have incorporated IT in teacher training. Nonetheless,
the K-12 system, in contrast to today’s professional science and engineering domains, generally lags substantially behind
in making effective use of digital capabilities. For FY 2011, NSF proposes to launch a new agencywide multidisciplinary activity
– called Cyberlearning Transforming Education (CTE) – intended to catalyze the potential of advanced learning technologies
to transform STEM education at all education and training levels. The effort will support R&D both in innovative learning
technologies and in learning processes themselves, within three framing themes: (1) Anytime, anywhere learning; (2) Personalized
learning; and (3) (Cyber)learning for (cyber)learning. Research and education needs: To realize the NITRD vision, fundamental
explorations of the basis and processes of human learning should be pursued aggressively. As noted elsewhere in this plan,
expanded understanding of how the mind works is a prerequisite for building smarter, more capable digital machines. In the
context of education, new multidisciplinary knowledge about human cognition and development likewise will be the basis for
designing revolutionary learning environments that meet the needs of individuals, whatever their location, age, socioeconomic
status, or educational level. These systems will become possible through technical advances in such areas as artificial intelligence,
human-machine interfaces, visualization and virtual reality technologies, data analytics, compute power, networking, and distributed
systems. New generations of educators appropriately equipped to work with technologies for learning will also be necessary.
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