Then, as they develop understanding and the ZPD moves upward, the problem can be made more complex. School learning should occur in a meaningful context. Again, technology can facilitate this in many ways. Students in an economics class, for example, can take the roles of national leaders in a computer simulation of economic decisions. A Geography class studying Scotland can take a simulated trip around the country and use desktop publishing software to create a newsletter complete with scanned photographs and charts about the county.
Technology can help accomplished that in several ways.
A fifth-grade class studying history, for example, could create a multimedia presentation, complete with scanned photographs, old maps, and excerpts from newspaper files, about the history of the town where they live. A middle-grades science class could use telecommunications to share data on water quality with students in other parts of the country or the world.