Five Reasons Digital Learning Matters

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

In case you haven't figured it out already, you need to take everything you know about what school was like when you were a kid and throw it out the window. If the fact that nearly every child these days is individually dropped off and picked up by their parents hasn't already alerted you to the fact that it's a different world, well... Let's just say the growing emergence of schools which have official policies surrounding high-tech concerns like smartphone usage, cyberbullying and social networks should rapidly clue you in that the rules today are different.

Knowing that it's a brave, new world out there, despite the much-publicized dangers that technology reportedly poses to today's youth (often unaccompanied by balanced discussion of their equally meaningful upsides), it pays to remember: Digital learning is a key concept that needs to be embraced by educators in today's classrooms. However, it's also worth noting that definitions of high-tech, online and distance learning solutions often differ between school and university campuses. For example, digital learning could refer to the use tablets in the classroom. It could mean using online sites, services and programs as teaching tools, or as study aids built for at-home use. Alternately, it could even refer to the practice of using popular apps, social networks and communications platforms as tools to create your own digital assignments and agendas.

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