Reputation for using cutting-edge technology is critical for both schools and businesses

In today’s competitive climate, a reputation for using cutting-edge technology is critical for both schools and businesses

Promethean Interactive Tools
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HELP WANTED: Self-directed, lifelong learners who can use technology to get things done.

Kids who head for classrooms this fall that are well-equipped with technology are far more likely to be ready for work after graduation than those who don’t.
Students with access to high-tech tools learn more and learn faster. They’ll be better prepared to keep up with continuous change in the workplace and constant new developments in their career fields.

High-tech, multimedia classrooms get students ready to be self-directed, lifelong learners who know how to use technology and the internet to get things done.

Parents look for high-tech classrooms and forward-thinking teachers

While reading, writing and arithmetic are more important than ever, these subjects are no longer enough. The workplace has little room left for people to do work or solve problems that require only a Number 2 pencil and blue-lined notebook paper. An accounting major who leaves college with no experience in QuickBooks, Excel and a dozen other software programs is more than likely unemployable. A degree in communications is useless to anyone who can’t use FaceTime, Skype or PowerPoint to conduct an interview or make a presentation.

When technology is used to teach K-12 students, young learners are more engaged in their studies and acquire knowledge and skills at their own pace, processing what they learn in more meaningful ways. A typical computer lesson provides immediate feedback, correcting student responses before misinformation and false impressions have a chance to settle in their minds.

Multimedia classrooms prepare next generation for high-tech careers 

Kids as early as kindergarten know how to select answers on a computer. They can choose alphabet letters from a colorful screen as they learn them, then practice writing their ABCs on electronic boards before their little fingers allow them to write with pencils.

Through technology, sixth-grade geography students can search the internet for information on all the countries in South America or all the continents on earth. With the tap of a finger on a white board, they can identify natural resources around the world or find out where kiwi fruit grows. High school French students can talk in the language they’re learning to teenagers in Paris and pull them up on their screens to chat in French on their iPads.

Michigan and many other states provide more choices today for children to get an education. If their parents feel they’ll learn quicker or be better prepared for their futures in another school district, their children can be enrolled in any public school in the state through legislation called "schools of choice.” Charter schools, which are public schools operated by businesses or universities, provide endless opportunities for K-12 students. Depending on the school’s charter, each is encouraged to offer choices not available elsewhere - from learning Chinese or Arabic to focusing on a child’s special interest such as art, science or leadership development. Parents can put kids in prep schools to prepare them for elite colleges, or teach them at home if that’s where they think their children learn best.

But eventually all students need to step into the 21st century’s fast-paced, ever-changing, highly technical world of work. To be hired, every job candidate needs to understand how technology works and be able to use it to do business in a global marketplace. In today’s competitive climate, a reputation for classrooms equipped with technology and educators who use it to teach children ranks near the top of every parent’s list of schools to choose.

Article by Susan K Maciak Business Consultant and Author For permission to reprint or quote from this article: Contact Maciak at Aim Up: www.aimupimage.com

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