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=**EDLD 5364 Week 1 Readings**=

 The readings articulated the advancement of technology and the abundant wealth of resources that it has brought. As it stands computers and the resources available have provided a wealth of potential and knowledge to the world. The resources and tools are available to any who have access to the Internet. Volumes of research, educational material, articles, books and web 2.0 tools are there for anyone to use. With these resources available to all it has created learning and educational possibilities and realities for many people throughout the world. This has changed the current landscape of technology proficiencies almost everywhere. The United States having been the global leader in the economic arena has changed. People in lower paying countries that had and have the desire to succeed have become proficient in technology. Companies that must address the needs of their investors have shifted jobs to lower cost areas. Thus for the students in this country to succeed they must be taught to be critical thinkers and collaborators. Traditional instructional methods need to change to address the current and future needs of children to succeed in the new global economy.

This week we learned about three learning theories which are constructivism, connectivism, and the cyborg learning theory. The cyborg learning theory postulates that human evolution and the advances in technologies are on par with each other. In using technology it provides many opportunities for students to enhance their learning. Constructivism states that with a past or current knowledge a learner will construct new ideas and concepts. In connectivism the learner will build new knowledge with the connections they make. This means that technology has had an effect on how we live, communicate, and how we learn. These are all student centered theories as opposed to the teacher oriented concept where the research is originally done by the teacher, thus they received the knowledge and critical thinking skills. The skills need to be with the learner so that they can create those critical thinking skills, collaboration, and engraved knowledge. These theories rely on project based learning. Students and teachers born in the recent era are considered digital natives and as such are using technologies devices on an almost daily basis. The readings also discussed many project based scenarios whereby the performance in many areas has been increased as well as the future learning potential of these children. In putting the learners in this type of environment it allows them to work within teams and collaborate with other students and experts to discuss, reflect, and dispute to build real knowledge. Students can succeed in a learner based environment because they can use digital age technology that creates digital age literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication skills, and yields high productivity. Teachers are still a vital ingredient, but their roles have shifted slightly to more of a facilitator. The teacher will provide the direction and allow the students to explore and build real lasting knowledge.