"It's getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that the Digital Natives are coming," write the authors of Creating Effective Digital Learning Environments for Higher Education, an article created for HP's InformED resource. "Students entering into higher education are accustomed to and are demanding the kinds of active learning experiences that are now possible because of the technology that has become so much a part of these students' collective second nature."

The article cites findings such as the following to make the case for increased technology use in education:

• A DePauw professor saw failure rates drop from 14% to 1% after introducing tablets into his introductory computer science classroom


• Students in a 1999 study with access to computer assisted instruction, integrated learning systems technology, simulations and software that teach higher order thinking, design and programming, and/or collaborative networked technologies showed positive gains in academic achievement.


• According to a 2005 report, students with routine access to ICT score higher in writing assessments, demonstrate better analytical skills, collaborate more, and have a higher rate of graduation.


• A 2009 meta-analysis found that students who took either all or part of their instruction online performed better than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction—with "blended" courses appeared to achieve the highest.

While the focus of this article is on higher education, much of it applies to teaching and learning at all grade levels. To read more: Creating Effective Digital Learning Environments for Higher Education