Cognitive Interfund Transfer

there have been four fundamental changes in information technology since humans learned to speak.

Somewhere, around 4000 BC, humans learned to write.

codex replaced the scroll sometime soon after the beginning of the Christian era.

Our global environmental, economic and social challenges require non-standardized skills such as creativity, problem-solving and collaboration. Accordingly, these are becoming indispensable skills for learners and workers who hope to stay at the innovative edge of today and tomorrow. While these 21st century skills are essential, they aren't enough. There is a growing expectation for these abilities to be leveraged and expressed using digital tools.

As media scholar Henry Jenkins has said: "Traditionally we wouldn't consider someone literate if they could read but not write. And today we shouldn't consider someone literate if they can consume but not produce media."

The literacy of the future rests on the ability to decode and construct meaning from one's constantly evolving environment -- whether it's coded orally, in text, images, simulations, or the biosphere itself. Therefore we must be adaptive to our social, economic and political landscape. Those of us living in this digital age are required to learn, unlearn and learn again and again.

To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and has the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

igital literacy is the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate and analyze information using digital technology.

Digital citizenship refers to the use of these skills to interact with society.

Technology is no substitute for the human connections that help build a sense of well-being and satisfaction. But as all of the tech tie-ins listed above suggest, technology creates opportunities for students to explore, try different tactics, and exercise increments of freedom. It’s just one piece of the happiness puzzle, but it’s a piece every student should have the opportunity to find.

we must engage in rigorous, disciplined inquiry and informed dissent and commentary” about our work and the social, political, and economic contexts in which our work is situated.

initiate the development of venues where it is possible to hear the perspectives of many groups, including those who oppose us, remaining open to new data or points of view, yet staying true to our work and our purpose—producing high quality educational leaders and rigorous research of consequence.

Reflections In addition to the video, please reflect on the following two questions: Does your school or district have a specific vision of 21st century education and an implementation strategy to make it actionable? Are the education leaders of your school or district truly committed to implementing their 21st century education initiative?

The focus instead can be on using the computers for teaching and for learning. Indeed, the conversations I had with Chromebooks users today quickly became about Google Apps for Education and for the collaboration that the productivity suite enables for teachers and students.

high-end video and photo editing desktop software is still superior to Web-based versions. The Chromebooks don’t work with The Fessenden School’s interactive whiteboards, and the USB interface isn’t adequate for uploading things like photos.