Remixing the Curriculum: The Teacher?s Guide to Technology in the Classroom

Remixing the Curriculum offers educators a way to rethink traditional curricular approaches through a “curricular remix,” a concept in which a curriculum becomes different from its original form, retaining its basic foundational elements, but experiencing a metamorphosis to create a new version. Remixing the Curriculum suggests that the way to develop curriculum to maximize student access and engagement is to employ essential elements of traditional pedagogy, but infuse it with technology to create new features through the X Framework (XFW). XFW capitalizes on four essential features of educators’ practice and learning: Technology Fitness, in which a teacher self-evaluates their comfort level using technology; Proactive Teaching, which front-loads the planning and preparation for instruction to prior to implementation; Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a set of principles which guide the conditions for learning, including flexible learning environments to accommodate individual learning differences; and Assistive Technology, technology to improve the capabilities of students with disabilities. At the intersection of these four quadrants is X, which serves as a fulcrum for access to the curriculum.

Elizabeth Stringer Keefeis a teacher educator and researcher at the Graduate School of Education at Lesley University, where she serves as faculty coordinator of Graduate Studies in Autism and regularly teaches about technology for curriculum and communication. Her research focuses on the preparation of special education teachers and teacher education policy.

Adam Steiner is a technology integration specialist for the Holliston Public Schools and recently completed his PhD at Boston College with a focus on curriculum, instruction, and technology. He is a lifelong resident of Framingham, Massachusetts where he lives with his wife and two children.