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Under the CCSS, building students' technological skills is a necessity

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012 15:22 PM



Students who get excited when they are told to put down their pencils and instead sit in front of a computer have much to look forward to as their schools implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). After all, most states adopted the Common Core in an effort to ensure that K-12 students are receiving instruction that can prepare them for college and the workforce. As computers and other forms of technology play such an important role in these areas, it is a given that more schools will focus on the development of kids' technological skills.

Expanding students' technological knowledge is one goal New Hampshire educators have moving forward, The Union Leader reported. In order to accomplish this, Mark Conrad, superintendent of the Nashua School District, said there will have to be a greater investment in modern classroom materials. This year alone, the District outfitted its sixth-grade science classes with 270 iPads at a cost of $200,000.

"We've been spending very little as a District in the last five or six years, very little on materials, and that has to change," Conrad told the news source. "And it started to change this year when we budgeted for the iPads…and we're going to have to continue."

Nashua is far from the only school district focused on boosting students' understanding of modern technology. For instance, the Basehor Sentinel reported that school board members for Kansas' Basehor-Linwood School District recently learned more about the changes they can expect under the CCSS, including a greater emphasis on technology education.

It is also worth noting that the Standards' do not place a focus on teaching cursive writing. While this is controversial in the eyes of some parents and educators, the decision is due in part to the fact that this writing style is simply not as important as typing skills in colleges and the modern workforce. 


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