Statement of Problem
What educational approach must the American public school take in order to
prepare our students for the ever-changing global 21st century workplace? The tired
mantra of “that can’t work here” has haunted many public school systems during this
significant time of change. Many of the initial theories regarding 21st century education
focused on the mere acquisition of computers in the classroom. Yet, without a relevant
instructional context, the mere addition of technology hardware into schools is not the
solution to developing the skills necessary for succeeding in the competitive global
economy. For instance, a survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education (2010)
indicated that only 40% of teachers regularly use or integrate computers and the Internet
instructionally in their classrooms, even though 99% of public schools have Internet
connections. In the 2007 Speak Up Survey, sponsored by Project Tomorrow, Nagel
(2008) reported that merely a third of the 1.2 million teachers surveyed consider
themselves technology experts (Nagel, 2008). Students in the same survey, a total of
approximately 319,000, indicated that 40 percent of teachers limit or stifle student’s
technology use. Meanwhile school administrators while inundated with so many
responsibilities, lack the full expertise expected to be the “digital architects” to facilitate a technological learning community in their schools (Lee and Gaffney, 2008). In a recent
report by the National Association of State Boards of Education, they stated the average
age of a school principal is around fifty, “so it will be some years before a large portion
of school leaders are digital natives” (Cavanagh, 2013). This reaffirmed the existing
research that students are on the cutting edge of technology development while educators
and administrators struggle to keep up (Nagel, 2008).