ABSTRACT
The conjoining of new pedagogical insights with computer-based technological innovations is producing a new strategic paradigm for US educators. That paradigm posits a need for greater child-centred teaching and more active, non-mimetic student learning. Today’s sophisticated technology provides the technical wherewithal to accomplish these goals. As US educators move to implement this paradigm they are designing high-technology school infrastructures that support child-centred learning environments. They are redesigning curricula to focus instruction more directly on higher-level thinking processes and to integrate content disciplines in the investigation of of problems. They are also implementing professional development programmes that help teachers adopt practices which take full advantage of new pedagogical insights and contemporary technological capabilities. This chapter illustrates the progress being made towards this goal by describing three models of US schools: cutting edge, pioneering and transitional.
