Standards, Firewalls, and General Classroom Mayhem: Implementing Student-Centered Technology Projects in the Elementary Classroom
Educators are simultaneously bombarded with both calls to integrate technology in meaningful ways into their teaching and to promote more student-centered activities which combine both content learning and higher-order thinking (Diem, 2000; Doolittle & Hicks, 2003; Mason, Berson, Diem, Hicks, Lee, & Dralle, 2000; Martorella, 1997). This is no small task given the range of student abilities and interests, the increasing emphasis on state standards and testing, and the persistent challenges regarding reliability and ubiquitous access to the necessary technologies in the classroom. Doolittle and Hicks (2003) are correct to point out that using emerging technologies in similar ways to existing practice (e.g., from overhead projectors to PowerPointâ„¢) does not move educators away from the traditional, teacher-centered model of instruction.
