Grand Challenges in Digital Education

Our goal as education researchers is to make a difference. We want to help students learn better, or perhaps we want them to learn just as well but at lower cost to our institutions. Decades of research tell us that it is difficult to make a significant difference with technology. This is especially true if we are trying to do the same things. The true value of new technology comes when it permits us to do something new. Education researchers are blessed to be working at a time when the computer is just starting to fulfill its promise as an agent of change. The key is that the computer allows for flexibility that no previous educational technology could match. While one might argue that none of the affordances provided by a computer are truly “new,” the results are stunning. A few examples: