In light of the $5 billion spent annually on K-12 education technology, The Milken Foundation on Education Technology issued a report to address what combination of essential conditions is necessary to improve student learning through technology. Findings indicate that technology, when used in combination with appropriate learning theory and support, positively impact learning.

Using technology in ways that engage students and improve learning is an important and elusive goal. In many instances, classroom computers are being used as little more than costly typewriters. EdTherapy's approach to technology use is rooted in providing teachers the skills they need to teach students a more organized and reflective approach to learning. EdTherapy specializes in hands-on technology training that allows teachers to:

  • Design content in ways that teach students to understand
     and apply research-based learning skills
  • Teach executive processing skills: planning, organizing,
     self-regulation, metacognition
  • Support students in developing a more strategic approach
     to academics
  • Model varied techniques for processing and organizing
     information 
  • Facilitate the writing process
  • Develop students’ academic independence
  • Measure progress

An essential assumption behind EdTherapy's approach is that students should be taught the behaviors that skilled learners habitually employ. For example, students frequently lack the skills necessary to organize and derive meaning from complex information, establish a logical plan, initiate learning tasks, self-monitor progress, and modify an approach when necessary.

EdTherapy's technology seminars teach faculty a variety of methods of using software to design lessons in ways that develop these types of thinking and problem solving skills. Using technology towards this set of objectives is an effective way of integrating it across subject areas. Additionally, these techniques represent straightforward means of transforming investments in technology into measurable gains in learning.