iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

Since the advent of formal education, many students have questioned the validity or relevance of the work they are doing. The question of “when am I going to use this?” has been launched at most veteran teachers countless times. Indeed, making learning more “real” has long been a goal of those who have promoted everything from project-based learning to career technical education. Both learners and learning facilitators want learning where the ‘why’ is an integral part of the process. It’s this desire to be “real” that has now found its way into our vernacular as “authenticity”. Authentic learning can be the guide to not only make learning more real but also more maximized and optimal for all learners. In a world where authenticity is often elusive in everything from our food to our entertainment, we are now holding our teaching and learning to a new standard of authenticity. Project-based learning practitioners, as well as those truly working on a more 21st century, personalized learning approach, are using authenticity as a foundational metric of both pedagogy and success.