Edtech Leaders

Content experts are a necessity, but there is no excuse to be media illiterate

What!? This is an ongoing debate that's been around for years. Even as content continues to be King, the question is, with content changing so rapidly and embedded in new media, aren't we as educators foolish to disregard media?

The connection between reading, writing, communication and new literacies is multi-modal, engaging everyone as learners as a result of its constant, transformative nature. Multiple modalities go beyond traditional ways of communicating—such as pen and paper, keyboard and mouse—to combine old literacies with new ones. This results in increased usability, increased experience that engages learners (Source). 

"Knowing truth from fiction on the Internet is a huge problem," says Kenneth Eastwood, superintendent of Middletown City (N.Y.) School District. "Students might be good researchers, but they tend not to scrutinize the information."

It might seem that evaluating information online-just one form of "new literacy"-and reading a book-more of a foundational literacy-are pretty much the same thing. After all, you can't trust everything you read, either. But there are differences. And those differences, when brought into the classroom and incorporated into curricula, are enriching the educational experiences of many K12 students. Unfortunately, many administrators, although they are beginning to recognize the need to revise their districts' media skills instruction, lack the resources, and more importantly the vision, to bring the new literacies into the classroom.

These devices were designed to have one or two at home, not 30 in a classroom. And that's why managing that many devices presents a challenge. “They’re made for consumers, and we’re using them for education,

In Project Based Learning (PBL), students go through an extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem, or challenge. Rigorous projects help students learn key academic content and practice 21st Century Skills (such as collaboration, communication & critical thinking).

Kids Are Learning . . . Just Not in Ways We Want Them To. May 17, 2011 in Education | Tags: educational reform, emerging technologies, game-based learning, learning, networked learning, school reform, social learning Kids are learning . . . just not in the ways expected of them through formal education.  Young people have always engaged in informal learning based on their interests and passions. 

I am that not sure if those involved in the institutionalized education of young people are unaware or choose to ignore that young people are often learning more outside of the school than within that learning environment.