<p class="MainText">Some students believe that their intellectual ability is a fixed trait. They have a certain amount of intelligence, and that's that. Students with this fixed mind-set become excessively concerned with how smart they are, seeking tasks that will prove their intelligence and avoiding ones that might not (Dweck, 1999, 2006). The desire to learn takes a backseat.</p> <p class="MainText">Other students believe that their intellectual ability is something they can develop through effort and education. They don't necessarily believe that anyone can become an Einstein or a Mozart, but they do understand that even Einstein and Mozart had to put in years of effort to become who they were. When students believe that they can develop their intelligence, they focus on doing just that.</p>

Laptops make it easier for students to edit their copy and make changes without getting writer's cramp, he said. As a result, students are writing and revising their work more frequently, which leads to better results. And it's important, Silvernail said, that those skills translated when the test was taken with pen and paper, too.

"It's just a lot easier to edit, to self-critique. Our teachers engage students in a lot of peer editing. Not only are they helping themselves, but they're helping each other as they get to their final projects," Rebar said.

These are the roles of a 21st Century educator: Teacher as leader, Teacher as writer, Teachers as 21st Century literacy activist.

<p>According to the survey, the majority of middle and high school students (51 percent of students in grades 6 through 12) indicated that "games make it easier to understand difficult concepts. Forty-six percent said they'd learn more about a subject if information were presented in a game format; 44 percent said gaming "would make it more interesting to practice problems"; and about a third said that "the use of games in schools will help them learn how to work in teams and see the direct results of their problem solving activities."</p> <div id="square"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=3,0,0,0" id="Ad" height="280" width="336"> <param name="movie" value="http://ad101com-images.adbureau.net/ad101com/THE/Collaboration 2.0/collaboration_336x280v4.swf?clickTAG=http://ad101com.adbureau.net/accipiter/adclick/CID=00003efce00ea3bb00000000/acc_random=36080713/site=THE/area=std/aamsz=336x280/pos=m03/pageid=93737584"> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"> <param name="quality" value="autohigh"> <param name="bgcolor" value="none"> <embed src="http://ad101com-images.adbureau.net/ad101com/THE/Collaboration%202.0/collaboration_336x280v4.swf?clickTAG=http://ad101com.adbureau.net/accipiter/adclick/CID=00003efce00ea3bb00000000/acc_random=36080713/site=THE/area=std/aamsz=336x280/pos=m03/pageid=93737584" wmode="transparent" quality="autohigh" swliveconnect="FALSE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" height="280" width="336"> </object> <noembed>&lt;A HREF="http://ad101com.adbureau.net/accipiter/adclick/CID=00003efce00ea3bb00000000/acc_random=36080713/site=THE/area=std/aamsz=336x280/pos=m03/pageid=93737584"&gt;&lt;IMG SRC="http://ad101com-images.adbureau.net/ad101com/THE/Collaboration 2.0/336x280_Collaboration.jpg" ALT="Collaboration 2.0" WIDTH="336" HEIGHT="280" BORDER="0"&gt;&lt;/A&gt;</noembed> <noscript><A HREF="http://ad101com.adbureau.net/accipiter/adclick/CID=00003efce00ea3bb00000000/acc_random=36080713/site=THE/area=std/aamsz=336x280/pos=m03/pageid=93737584"><IMG SRC="http://ad101com-images.adbureau.net/ad101com/THE/Collaboration 2.0/336x280_Collaboration.jpg" ALT="Collaboration 2.0" WIDTH="336" HEIGHT="280" BORDER="0"></A></noscript> </div> <p>Teachers were apparently even more enthusiastic about gaming, as 65 percent indicated that they thought educational gaming would be an effective tool for students with different learning styles and would help engage students in coursework. More than half said they'd like to learn more about educational gaming, and some 46 percent said they would "like to receive specific professional development on how to effectively integrate gaming technologies into curriculum," according to the survey.</p>

<p>According to the survey, the majority of middle and high school students (51 percent of students in grades 6 through 12) indicated that "games make it easier to understand difficult concepts. Forty-six percent said they'd learn more about a subject if information were presented in a game format; 44 percent said gaming "would make it more interesting to practice problems"; and about a third said that "the use of games in schools will help them learn how to work in teams and see the direct results of their problem solving activities."</p> <div id="square"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=3,0,0,0" id="Ad" height="280" width="336"> <param name="movie" value="http://ad101com-images.adbureau.net/ad101com/THE/Collaboration 2.0/collaboration_336x280v4.swf?clickTAG=http://ad101com.adbureau.net/accipiter/adclick/CID=00003efce00ea3bb00000000/acc_random=79093549/site=THE/area=std/aamsz=336x280/pos=m03/pageid=86059397"> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"> <param name="quality" value="autohigh"> <param name="bgcolor" value="none"> <embed src="http://ad101com-images.adbureau.net/ad101com/THE/Collaboration%202.0/collaboration_336x280v4.swf?clickTAG=http://ad101com.adbureau.net/accipiter/adclick/CID=00003efce00ea3bb00000000/acc_random=79093549/site=THE/area=std/aamsz=336x280/pos=m03/pageid=86059397" wmode="transparent" quality="autohigh" swliveconnect="FALSE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" height="280" width="336"> </object> <noembed>&lt;A HREF="http://ad101com.adbureau.net/accipiter/adclick/CID=00003efce00ea3bb00000000/acc_random=79093549/site=THE/area=std/aamsz=336x280/pos=m03/pageid=86059397"&gt;&lt;IMG SRC="http://ad101com-images.adbureau.net/ad101com/THE/Collaboration 2.0/336x280_Collaboration.jpg" ALT="Collaboration 2.0" WIDTH="336" HEIGHT="280" BORDER="0"&gt;&lt;/A&gt;</noembed> <noscript><A HREF="http://ad101com.adbureau.net/accipiter/adclick/CID=00003efce00ea3bb00000000/acc_random=79093549/site=THE/area=std/aamsz=336x280/pos=m03/pageid=86059397"><IMG SRC="http://ad101com-images.adbureau.net/ad101com/THE/Collaboration 2.0/336x280_Collaboration.jpg" ALT="Collaboration 2.0" WIDTH="336" HEIGHT="280" BORDER="0"></A></noscript> </div> <p>Teachers were apparently even more enthusiastic about gaming, as 65 percent indicated that they thought educational gaming would be an effective tool for students with different learning styles and would help engage students in coursework. More than half said they'd like to learn more about educational gaming, and some 46 percent said they would "like to receive specific professional development on how to effectively integrate gaming technologies into curriculum," according to the survey.</p>

the standards require teacher-candidates to exhibit knowledge, skills, and dispositions that equip them to teach technology applications. Candidates also have to show they can use technology to support student learning of content.

<p>Joel Colbert, who heads the committee on innovation and technology, says the handbook seeks to make the point that stand-alone technology classes are now obsolete. </p> <p>“We are saying that’s not the way to integrate technology into teacher training, because each subject area uses technology differently,” Colbert says.</p>

In his inaugural attempt using the application, Ferriter posted VoiceThreads about a variety of topics online, encouraging students to comment on them voluntarily on their own time. He got dozens -- even hundreds -- of comments on each. It was a revelation. "I can basically extend my classroom," he says.

Ferriter says more students participate more actively in digital discussions than in the classroom. "You don't have to be the loud one or the popular one," he points out. When he asked his students about their online involvement, he said they cited the sense of safety: "They can think about their comments beforehand." They also liked the fact that any VoiceThread has multiple conversations going on at once. "In a classroom conversation, there's generally one strand of conversation going at any one time, and if you're bored by that particular strand, you're completely disengaged," says Ferriter.

Ferriter says more students participate more actively in digital discussions than in the classroom. "You don't have to be the loud one or the popular one," he points out. When he asked his students about their online involvement, he said they cited the sense of safety: "They can think about their comments beforehand."

Well-integrated technology opens social networks for students and allows children to develop key social skills, according to two recent studies conducted by researchers at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.