Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology : The Digital Revolution and Schooling in America

The digital revolution in education is well under way, with more and more learners plugged into the online world. How can schools make the most of both the technology and the learning potential of today’s “born digital” students? In this new edition of their groundbreaking book, Collins and Halverson argue that new technologies have transformed our workplaces, our lives, and our culture and it is time we take the next step to transform learning―in and out of schools. The authors show how, over time, public schooling was so successful that it became synonymous with education. But new technologies risk making schools obsolete and this book explains why and how today’s educators, policymakers, and communities must adapt to provide all learners with access to the new learning tools of the 21st century.

The insightful, Second Edition:

• Explains how our school systems need to embrace new technologies to address the opportunity gaps we face in our society.
• Advances a new view of the classroom that moves beyond the hopes of technology enthusiasts and the doubts of technology skeptics.
• Traces the explosion of new media learning tools that provide “anytime, anywhere, any topic” access to learning, such as Khan Academy, YouTube, Pinterest, video games, Wikipedia, and citizen science.
• Makes practical suggestions for how schools can support the new technologies to enhance learning for students at all levels, to rethink assessment, and to guide educators and school leaders to reframe education.

Allan Collins is professor emeritus of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University, former co-director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Center for Technology in Education, and author of What's Worth Teaching? Rethinking Curriculum in the Age of Technology. Richard Halverson is professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he is co-founder of the Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning project and co-director of the Wisconsin Collaborative Education Research Network.