Ready or Not…The Cyborgs Are Here

Current research in learning science, neurobiology, and social psychology tells us that children who are attending our schools today think and learn in markedly different ways than students did even a decade ago. Each year our K-20 schools are being called upon to meet the educational needs of increasing numbers of students, sometimes referred to collectively as Digital Natives, who have grown up using devices such as laptops, MP3 players, and cell phones to gather and process the information that they use to construct their own understanding of the world. These people actually use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to think with. Because ICT has become so integral to their lives, it seems to me that it would not be a stretch to say that these young people truly are “Cyborgs.” So many of our students today require access to information and communication technologies in order to optimally think and learn. And while there are some shining exceptions, an outdated model of the traditionally structured school largely persists. 

Why is this? Why is it that we as a society continue to fund and support institutions that in many cases still largely encourage a single way of knowing for every student exacted through the one-way transmission of “the facts” from teacher to student? Thing is, this mode of teaching alone really doesn’t work very well for these kids, and we can do better. Teachers need more technology tools. Students need more technology tools. And every stakeholder in the system needs to be coached in how to utilize technology to increase learning incidences that would not be possible without technology tools in the classroom.

It is undeniable that the educational system in place today was designed a long time ago (with the very best of intentions) for a completely different kind of student with different needs born of another era. And even though it is getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that the Cyborgs are here, and in spite of the very best efforts of some enlightened district leaders, school administrators, teachers, and parents, the outdated structure that exists in many of our school systems is not changing fast enough to meet the unique educational needs of today’s students. These kids have been making their way through an antiquated school system for years now, and there are many, many more students with similar needs on the way, with no letup in sight. 

As I see it, the choice that we have as a society is not whether or not we need to make deep changes to our way of conducting schools, but rather we must decide how many more children we will allow to be lost before we recognize that it is absolutely imperative that we do so. Which begs the question, how can we most effectively and efficiently integrate technology into our schools on a grand scale?