| Summary: | Educator John Dewey said that "if we teach today's students as we taught yesterday's, we rob them of tomorrow." That wisdom resonates strongly today, and that maxim underlies this insightful look at the present and future of education in the digital age. Darrell West makes clear in Digital Schools, today's educational institutions must reinvent themselves to engage students successfully and provide them with skills needed to compete in an increasingly global, technological, and online world. Otherwise American education system will continue to fall woefully short in its mission to prepare the population to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing world. West examines new models of education made possible by enhanced information technology, new approaches that will make public education in the post-industrial age more relevant, efficient, and ultimately more productive. Digital Schools surveys this new landscape, examining personalized learning; real time student assessment; ways to enhance teacher evaluation; the untapped potential of distance learning; and ways in which technology can improve effectiveness of special education and foreign language instruction. West illustrates potential contributions of blogs, wikis, social media, and video games and augmented reality in K-2 and higher education. If today's schools combine increased digitization with needed improvements in organization, operations, and culture, we can overcome current barriers, produce better results, and improve manner in which schools function.
|
|---|