We recognize that mere access to information is no guarantee that learning will take place. However, we know that development of methods to gather information through technology and to organize, synthesize and assimilate that information with the help of technology tools must be an important goal in planning the education of our children. We envision a learning environment where all learners have unlimited access to a variety of information sources. This information by itself is of limited value, but when incorporated into an engaged learning process becomes a powerful catalyst for understanding and further exploration. The model represented on the following page highlights the way we see students using information in the learning process.
Information is the raw material from which students begin to construct new knowledge.
They first must find a multitude of ways to input the information into the computer in a digital format. Once the information is in a format the computer can read, they use various technology tools to organize that information into a manageable format from which they can reflect and construct new knowledge. They might be using a spreadsheet to graph information and calculate data, a database to track discoveries This new knowledge isn't static, however. Students are expected to communicate that information back to others in a project or presentation of some sort. Students will be able to own this information for the rest of their lives, and because of the Wide Area Network will have the freedom to update that product via the wide area network at any point in their school career.