Removing obstacles to the pedagogical changes required by Jonassen's vision of authentic technology-enabled learning

Abstract

Educators have been striving to achieve meaningful technology use in our K-12 classrooms for over 30 years. Yet, despite significant investments of time and money in infrastructure, training, and support ''we have few assurances that [educators] are able to use technology for teaching and learning'' (NEA, 2008, p. 1). In this article, we call for a shift in focus from technology integration (and the tools used to achieve it), to technology-enabled learning (and the pedagogy used to support it). Building on the early work of Jonassen (1996) in which he proposed using technology as cognitive tools, we suggest that future technology integration efforts should focus on helping teachers engage students in authentic technology-enabled learning environments. As such, technology integration is no longer an isolated goal to be achieved separately from pedagogical goals, but simply the means by which students engage in relevant and meaningful interdisciplinary work. Implications for supporting teacher pedagogical change, from a system's perspective, are discussed.