Group items tagged

C-1.1 I show and explain the plan I followed, the information I gathered, or the work I created. (examples: text, images, sound, multimedia presentations, email, tables, spreadsheets, animation, web pages...) sa1.1 logs on and off ICT devices sa1.2 opens applications and files (examples: using Start menu, My Computer, desktop icons...) sa1.5 navigates within an application (examples: using icons, menus, keyboard shortcuts...) sa2.2 manages electronic files and folders sb1.2 recognizes and presses keys on the keyboard (examples: uses one finger, uses both hands, hunts and pecks, uses correct hand position while watching the screen, demonstrates speed and accuracy...) sb2.1 selects and uses peripherals to find / record / manipulate / save / print / display information (examples: microphones, digital cameras, video cameras, electronic whiteboards, digital microscopes, joysticks, touch screens, storage devices, compact flash memory, data projectors, TVs, printers...) C-2.1 I discuss my work with others at a distance by using electronic communication tools. (examples: email, Internet, threaded discussions, videoconferences, chats, instant messages, camera phones, blogs, podcasts, online whiteboards...) sa1.11 sends and receives text messages and electronic files using rules of etiquette (examples: not typing in all capital letters, filling in subject line…) C-3.1 I communicate with a wide audience and collect feedback to improve my work.

To be a school “reformer” is to support: * a heavy reliance on fill-in-the-bubble standardized tests to evaluate students and schools, generally in place of more authentic forms of assessment; * the imposition of prescriptive, top-down teaching standards and curriculum mandates; * a disproportionate emphasis on rote learning—memorizing facts and practicing skills—particularly for poor kids; * a behaviorist model of motivation in which rewards (notably money) and punishments are used on teachers and students to compel compliance or raise test scores; * a corporate sensibility and an economic rationale for schooling, the point being to prepare children to “compete” as future employees; and * charter schools, many of which are run by for-profit companies.

Almost never questioned, meanwhile, are the core elements of traditional schooling, such as lectures, worksheets, quizzes, grades, homework, punitive discipline, and competition.  That would require real reform, which of course is off the table.