Abstract:

Digital transformation, regardless of the company, will typically take this path. First, the company mimics paper-and-pencil processes using the computer. But then, a disrupter comes along and creates new processes and new materials that truly leverage the unique affordances of digital technology and the digital transformation occurs. To date, in K-12, digital curricula is basically “digitized” curricula – curricula that started life using paper-and-pencil technologies but was then transferred to a computer – with a few videos added in. Gen Z and Gen Alpha children will not accept paper-and-pencil curricula – even if those materials are “on” a computer! But, finally, disrupters are appearing in K-12 and providing deeply-digital curricula for K-12 classrooms – curricula that truly takes advantages of the affordances of the underlying digital technologies. For example, we at the Center for Digital Curricula at the University of Michigan, have issued year-long, deeply-digital, standards-aligned curricula for K-5, all four core subjects. Unlike 1-dimenstional, text-based digitized curricula, the Center’s deeply-digital curricula are 2D and graphical - just like the video game world inhabited daily by the Gen Z's and Gen Alphas. For teachers, the 2D platform enables the graphical aggregation, in one place, of all the learning activities in a lesson, making it easy for students - and their parents - to understand what's been done and what's coming next. In the 2020-2021 school year, 5,000+ K-5 students began using the Center's deeply-digital curricula daily! Teachers report the students are engaged, and test results indicate the students are learning! In our presentation we will further explore the nature of deeply-digital curricula and their use in the classroom.

Keywords:

Digital transformation, deeply-digital curricula, digitized curricula.