The world has changed tremendously since our parents and grandparents entered the workforce. The rapid innovation in and proliferation of technology has transformed our economy into a global animal. Because of this, the stakes are higher for today’s college graduate. They must be able to compete fiercely for a place in the modern economy. No longer will an average skill set do; they need to blow away the competition to secure a position. In this article, we will discuss 8 ways that digital age teachers prepare their students for the global economy.

1. Digital age teachers personalize learning for every student. Digital age teachers differentiate learning. They meet learners’ needs by providing a variety of teaching methods, including direct instruction, grouping students, and rearranging the groups as needed. To reach the individual student, they must strive to motivate each individual, involve him or her in learning, and understand how to teach everyone, not simply aim to teach the average student. They must also be an advocate for their students as individuals, ensuring that they have all the resources they need to succeed.
2. Digital age teachers use digital learning to promote lifelong learning. Digital age teachers know that for students to maximize their potential, they must become lifelong learners. To foster a lifelong love of learning they leverage digital tools to engage students in the learning process fully.
3. Digital age teachers teach their students to become producers. Long gone are the days when students will be satisfied with filling out worksheets all day. Even using edtech tools at a basic level won’t satisfy them anymore. To maximize your student’s potential, you must help them learn how to become producers. In doing so, students will learn how to create blogs, infographics, books, how-to videos, movies, action figures, apps, and tutorials. Digital teachers manage to accomplish this at an elevated level, and their student’s potentials become only as limited as their imaginations. What a great gift to give to your students.
4. Digital age teachers use project-based learning. Modern students need to be able to create hypotheses, conduct research, communicate with experts, create final projects and disseminate them using the devices already in their hands. Digital age teachers craft project-based learning opportunities that allow them to do just that.
5. Digital age teachers learn how to code. Learning how to code gives you a unique perspective on how things work and how to solve complex problems. Digital age teachers tackle the challenge of learning how to code so they can teach their students how to and include coding experiences in future activities. I am not saying that it is easy to learn how to code, but it is worth it in the long run. There are tons of free coding resources and courses on the web.
6. Digital age teachers partner with the school library media specialist. Specially trained and knowledgeable in the use of information technology, library media specialists have become one of the most important instructional partners, working with teachers and administrators to change what is possible in the classroom. Digital age teachers are aware of this, and partner with library media specialists every chance they get.
7. Digital age teachers design a digital learning environment that works. Digital age teachers understand that for students to be successful in this age of technology, they must construct and configure a digital learning environment that is conducive to technology. This includes having the proper hardware, software, devices and having a learning space that supports the use of technology (having enough electrical sockets, device storage cabinets, Wi-Fi).
8. Digital age teachers have a global mindset. Technology has broken down the barrier of distance and made it easier for individuals to connect. Learning and commerce are global now. Digital age teachers embrace this new norm and look to connect with and work with people around the globe. In doing so, they model how to connect with our global society in a virtual space, without having to leave your town or city.

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Click here to see all of the posts in our digital age teacher series.