It was 2008 and I had just finished a two-week dissertation study entitled Learning through Student-Authored Interactive Media: A Mixed Methods Exploration. In the study, Advanced Biology students learned about mitosis, the cell cycle, and cancer by creating eModules that included tutorials and self-correcting tests. The average improvement on the post-study test was 547%. Twenty percent of the students who scored 20% or less on the pre-study test scored 80% or more on the post-study test. As we resolve to close the achievement gap, I thought these results were noteworthy. There were lots of teacher takeaways—and the basis for a viable, teacher-friendly book.

Jump ahead several years. Technology has amplified how we communicate, collaborate, and create: it has ushered in a new era, the Innovation Age. Information is now just a Google search away. We have info-glut. In the Innovation Age it is not about what you know, but what you do with what you know. To prepare our students to survive and thrive in the workplace, educators need to go beyond the information age benchmarks of knowledge transfer and construction of meaning, and empower students to find solutions to unmet needs.

This book was written for teachers, who directly impact students and can empower them with Innovation Age learning so they will survive and thrive in tomorrow’s workplace. This book is also for those of you who want to better understand the challenges and needs facing today’s learners and educators.

Publisher’s Summary

Ready or not, education has entered the Innovation Age, where it’s not about what students know but what they can do with what they know. Teachers can prepare students thrive in the Innovation Age by teaching them at three levels, closing the learning environment gap, and systematically infusing technology.

In Innovation Age Learning, author Sharon “Sam” Sakai-Miller shares her vision for active, constructivist-based learning, infused with innovation skills, which leads to proven student success. In this strategy, students are challenged to cultivate empathetic thinking skills in order to become innovators who can turn knowledge into effective real-world solutions.

This book is filled with concrete strategies teachers can use today to teach innovation-age skills as well as implement the Common Core standards. The ideas are organized by familiar essential skills: collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. Using these helpful takeaways, teachers can intentionally design learning environments that

• foster collaboration in class, beyond class, and beyond school;
• promote self expression, interactive communication, and three-dimensional communication through words, data, and graphics;
• encourage creativity by building creative confidence, and associational thinking and empathetic thinking skills; and
• boost critical thinking skills by supporting the iterative learning process and building questioning and experimentation skills.

We need all teachers to take on the Innovation Age challenge if we are to ensure equitable access for all students and ending digital isolation. It’s time to bring the promise of technology to all learners through a shared technology-infused vision and professional development that encourages teacher leadership.

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Purchase through ISTE or Amazon.com.  Bulk orders of 25 copies or more, please email iste@iste.org to inquire about the level of discount for your organization and quanity.