Tech-enhanced projects can spark student agency and deeper learning--but new research suggests that success depends on teachers' sense of efficacy and control with the technology at hand, write Emily Barton, Dan Brown, and Jennifer Chiu.

New ed-tech tools crop up frequently, leaving teachers little to no time to become familiar with them or adapt them to learning. Professional development that focuses on tool-centered approaches are often insufficient to meet teachers' needs in contemporary classrooms. Therefore, teachers need to develop a level of comfort with using new…

The author presented a math task asking all his 3rd graders to find ways to count seven sets of eight donuts, arranged in grids of two-by-four. He hoped this task would lead students toward fluency in single-digit multiplication, albeit in a manner that was inherently personalized learning, with students choosing their own methods to reach an…

Innovative teaching means the teacher is the creator, but unfortunately it does not necessarily mean the same for the students. Innovation is not just "doing" something new; it is "thinking" of new ways to improve a product, a method, or an idea. How can educators teach students to become better innovators themselves? This…

Incorporating virtual reality or augmented reality into classroom instruction and activities not only engages students, it provides learning experiences otherwise unavailable, such as virtually walking on the moon or building a 360-degree animation of a Revolutionary War battle. The author gives examples of ways AR and VR can be used in…

How can you get your students to have a robust online discussion that goes beyond, "Good post!" or "I like that!"? Education technology coordinator Jennifer Stewart-Mitchell offers up strategies on deepening discussions online with digital book clubs. Blogging, memes, video, and more enhances creativity and thoughtful response.

What does it take to make online discussions work? Educator Michael B. Sherry offers three strategies for addressing the challenges of online conversations and engaging students in going deeper in their digital discussions.

What is the difference between schools who are using technology effectively and those who are not? More often than not, says Culatta, it comes down to creating a vision for learning before jumping into buying devices or software. Culatta describes how using a shared set of digital-learning strategies helped the Los Angeles Unified School District…

Many school leaders feel pressure to encourage teachers to integrate technology, yet they do not have a strong conceptual framework of how technology should be integrated. Kolb offers up her open-source Triple E Framework, a tool that helps administrators ask smart questions about how technology is being integrated into learning. Three key…

In Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland, the Our Lives, Our Words program puts digital cameras in the hands of elementary-aged English language learners. Teachers plan lessons that allow students to use photography as way to support and extend their writing.

In recent years, educators have used the SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) model to describe the ideal trajectory of teachers as learners with new technology. The very same general pattern can be found in Judith Sandholtz's research from the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow project in the 1980s and the five-phase model…

Events like Britain's vote to leave the European Union reflect the fear and sense of injustice many people feel in the face of globalization. Such events, Tavangar argues, send a message to K-12 educators: 21st century education must respond to the challenges of the global economy and create opportunities for everyone to find meaningful work in an…

Even though many of teachers do not have technology-rich classrooms, the rapidly evolving education landscape increasingly requires them to incorporate technology to customize student learning. Blended learning, with its mix of technology and traditional face-to-face instruction, is a great approach. Blended learning combines classroom learning…

In order to help teachers envision digital products in action in classrooms, the authors look at three examples of how teachers they know enhance learning time by employing technology efficiently. The examples include: (1) a social studies teacher who begins each class period with a three-question formative assessment using the website…

Flipped learning is not about how to use videos in lessons. It's about how to best use in-class time with students. That insight is causing educators in classrooms from kindergarten to college to reevaluate how they teach. Flipped learning helps teachers move away from direct instruction as their primary teaching tool toward a more…