Ain’t No Stopping It Now

For some reason, when I read the prompt for this particular blog, I suddenly had the song “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now”  playing in my head. Just for fun, and just in case you’ve never heard it, here’s a link to it on YouTube in all of it’s glorious ’70’s disco awesomeness: Ain’t No Stopping Us Now.  The question for this blog was “Considering the significant curriculum changes taking place as a result of the Common Core and NC Essential Standards, do you think that the Common Core or the NC Essential Standards is more likely to positively influence the use of technology for learning or is it another impediment to implementing digital tools?” My response to this question is that I don’t think there is ANYTHING, except for perhaps an actual lack of technology resources in a school, that will impede the implementation of digital tools for learning. It seems that there’s no stopping the technology wave and teachers have to learn to utilize these new tools to teach the Common Core and Essential Standards as well as any other standards that the few states that have not adopted Common Core may be using. Technology is the paper, pencil, book and pen of today’s classroom. Digital tools have become the basic tools for learning, communicating and sharing for today’s students—which means no matter what standards are taught, today’s teachers have to learn how to use these tools to enhance the educational experience. There’s no turning back at this point. Teachers may have to take a few baby steps to get there, but eventually we will all be using digital tools  in our classrooms.