Students should be given a number and variety of technology resources to use in order to find a solution to their problem, such as internet resources or search engines, communication/email with experts, books, software programs, spreadsheet programs, graphing programs, etc. Students may also be required to conduct their own hands-on experiments or participate in online collaborative research. However, instruction should be given on how to analyze information for bias and accuracy. Students should realize that not everything on internet is true or correct. Since information is not merely presented to students in a lecture format they are required to critically think about it, interact with it, analyze it, and use it to formulate a solution. This type of instruction enhances critical thinking and higher order thinking skills and helps students demonstrate a deeper understanding of content and concepts presented as well as problem-solving process.

Students should also have choices in how their information and solution is presented. Formats such as PowerPoint presentations, posters, brochures, pamphlets, reports, web pages, and movies created with technology can be utilized. Giving students a choice in their final presentations not only allows them to showcase their talents and strengths but allows students to make their own decisions about best ways to present their data to others, which is oftentimes required in workplace.

Incorporating technology into classroom using an active/inquiry-based method enhances skills required for success in 21st century. It requires students to use computer as a tool to gather information, analyze data, and present a solution to a given problem. These are skills that technology rich environments of today emphasize and require; therefore, using technology in this manner will aide students in developing life long skills that can be carried over to workforce

Tina O'Block holds a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction: Focus on Technology and a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She has been teaching for 15 years.

She is the author of an alphabet curriculum, Now I Know My ABCs and a Whole Lot More, which is available at http://www.oblockbooks.com .

If you have a deadline looming, decide how much of project you need to tackle at one time.

Let’s say you have six weeks to master content of a difficult biology text. Looking through book you realize that if you study one chapter each night, you can get through book in 28 days, leaving two weeks in which you can again review material.

With this knowledge you can pace yourself. You know what your assignment is. You know how much you need to read every night. Concentrate on immediate task at hand. You don’t need to feel overwhelmed by entire book at one time. Next, work out a system of rewards for yourself. Give yourself a series of small rewards each time you master one chapter, and a larger reward for completing entire book.

For rewards to work they must be immediate, and personally meaningful to you. There is no point in rewarding yourself with a new fishing rod if you hate fishing.

Rewards don’t need to be material objects if there is something else that would really motivate and inspire you. How about attending a special concert, or taking a special trip? You decide. Get creative and think of something that will spur you to take action.

It’s very important that reward take place soon after work has been accomplished. This creates a sense of positive reinforcement. Give yourself a small reward every time you finish a small part of job, and a bigger reward when project is completed. If there is too long a gap between activity and reward, it will not have effect of reinforcing desired activity.

Besides motivating yourself with a series of external rewards, learn to motivate yourself internally. Tell yourself you’re a good learner. Tell yourself you enjoy learning. Tell yourself you enjoy giving your brain a good work out. Congratulate yourself for your efforts. Tell yourself you love acquiring new knowledge, and let yourself feel a joy in learning. Be proud of yourself for work you do to gain more knowledge.

For information to sink into your brain and be accessible to you, you need to review it several times, and your brain needs to sleep properly for memories to be encoded in your neurons. You need to reduce your mental stress. Your brain needs good nutrition and it needs to be in a peaceful, confident state. Drugs and alcohol don’t help process of learning.

Write out what you are learning in your own words, and find a learning buddy. Practice explaining to someone else what you have learned. This will increase likelihood that your brain will remember it.

If you start to cram night before, you are putting your brain at a big disadvantage.

You’re increasing your physical and mental stress, and you’re not giving yourself time to review material several times. By cutting back on your sleep, you’re not giving your brain a chance to put information you’ve been studying into hard drive storage of your brain.

By starting your studies early, and reviewing what you’ve learned, you have a much better chance of remembering and understanding what you need to know when you face a big exam.