Drivers of Change- Technology and CCSS

“To be ready for college, workforce training, and life in a technological society, students need the ability to gather, comprehend, evaluate, synthesize, and report on information and ideas, to conduct original research in order to answer questions or solve problems, and to analyze and create a high volume and extensive range of print and nonprint texts in media forms old and new. The need to conduct research and to produce and consume media is embedded into every aspect of today’s curriculum. In like fashion, research and media skills and understandings are embedded throughout the Standards rather than treated in a separate section.” –CCSS Key Design Consideration

As I thought about this post and what I wanted to say about technology and the CCSS, I continued to think about children, teenagers, and young adults in the 21st century and their constant desire to obtain information immediately. I feel that this could be viewed as people being impatient or on the flip side as people wanting to be as informed as possible while thinking, listening, or speaking. As we move into the CCSS we are emphasizing the importance of being knowledgeable speakers and listeners. I think that through the use of technology we are providing students with the opportunities to have immediate access to information and many different tools in order to express their thinking through a variety of medias and tools. When I think about the CCSS and technology I immediately think about the skills that are going to be required of our students in the future in order to be globally competitive students who are going to be able to take on a variety of new jobs that do not exist yet. I think about them needing to be agents of change who will be able to dig our country out of the economic hole that we have created. It is going to be important for them to be able to utilize all of the resources both locally and globally in order to become leaders in their professions. So as I think about their needs I immediately think about the research that the Institute for the Future has done to identify and understand the drivers of change that will shift our future. They have developed a list of 10 skills that are needed in future workplaces using the 6 drivers of change.

I believe that the CCSS is one possible driver of change for educators that will guide us and our students towards developing these skills. As I look at these skills, I think about the importance of integrating technology into our students lives and helping them to understand how to filter through the endless world of information that is readily available to them.  I believe that the CCSS will positively influence the use of technology because students and teachers both need to be able to understand and develop new ways of learning, deciphering, and expressing their knowledge with others.