TECHNOLOGY AND STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING

T HE TRANSITION TO STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS is inevitable; indeed, several significant efforts have been demonstrated or are already underway. While a great deal has been learned from available research and theory, it is naive to presume that research and theory alone shaped SCLEs. Rather, SCLEs emerged as a natural consequence of widespread availability of powerful, ubiquitous technologies that support inquiry of all kinds in all places, not simply in formal schooling. Different models of inquiry have become possible through technology; the challenge is not so much to invent new teaching-learning models as to understand and optimize those models that have emerged. It is tempting to position SCLEs and didactic approaches as polar opposites in a "winner take all" epistemological struggle: One position must be correct and prevail, while the other must be flawed and thus vanquished. It is tempting, but unreasonable. SCLE approaches will undoubtedly continue to emerge, but they do not portend the demise of didactic approaches. SCLEs open domains of study to the unique needs and sense-making of learners; they do not, however, explicitly clarify what is of general importance and significance. SCLEs and didactic approaches have important roles in the educational toolkit of instructors and students. We do not posit SCLEs, or any other approach, as the definitive "new best way"; we need, however, to determine when different tools make sense and how to utilize them.