So we have sixth and seventh graders doing complex systems analysis. The possibilities are endless. Students who really are excelling in a particular area can take courses online or through distance education. They can continue to learn even if their community has limited resources. From my background in special education, I know that we must also think about equity for the student who won't be taking the most advanced courses.
Technology has the potential to build on whatever skills a student possesses.
When students' own interests drive the learning process, we find that they work longer and harder, they are more engaged in their learning, they are asking questions at whatever level they happen to be. Teachers Become Life-Long Learners To use technology for this sort of authentic learning, we have to educate teachers. We must start in preservice teacher education programs and encourage those people to come into teaching who like the ambiguity, or at least can live with it. Prospective teachers need to be helped to recognize that their jobs are not to pour content knowledge and dates and facts and figures into students' heads. Professional development for practitioners needs to model the ideal of life-long learning.