Group items tagged

As this is a PDF I cannot add stidky notes or highlighting. This is well worth the read as math may be the most difficult area for teachers to relinquish the stage. "The ultimate goal of high school mathematics teachers is to create a meaningful learning environment that is conducive to teaching students the necessary concepts for academic achievement. Unfortunately, evidence suggests that many secondary educators still teach in rote lecture style that focuses on the teacher providing information to passive, uninvolved students. Current mathematics reform movements endorse inquiry-based, "guide on the side" instruction grounded in constructivist pedagogy. The authors' research examines the effects of constructivist teaching and learning in pre-service secondary mathematics courses. The applicability of constructivism to teach secondary mathematical concepts, using practical instructional ideas, will conclude the article. "

As this is a PDF I cannot add stidky notes or highlighting. This is well worth the read as math may be the most difficult area for teachers to relinquish the stage.

Why this hit me like a ton of bricks: This feels exactly like what I am experiencing at the schools I am working at. A few teachers are motivated and interested in technology and consciously apply it toward student learning. These teachers are excited about new applications of technology and diligently scrutinize student data to track student achievement. Often though, teachers think of technology as "one more thing I must do". I have been thinking about how I can best support teachers, including those teachers who are resistant to change. This article gave me some good ideas and some inspiration. I particularly appreciated the mention of school culture and passivity, that it is something that must be addressed. In order for technology to truly be integrated, we must have a paradigm shift in the way we view technology within teaching.

Here is a great FREE resource for teachers - Google for Teachers...Books, Docs, Maps and more

iRead is a group of teachers in Escondido Union School District dedicated to the idea that digital audio can be a powerful learning tool for all students. This learning community of teachers is using digital audio tools (iPods, mics, iTunes, Keynote, Garageband, etc. and various accessories) to improve reading processes.

Use of iPods to improve reading skills.

This book promotion highlights an issue that came up in class Friday. It ignited quite a bit of sidebar discussion during the breaks and in the ensuing days. (The Davidson Institute, by the way, is one of the few organizations in this country that focus on profound giftedness and on how to develop that talent. Their work looks at an educational culture that focuses on differentiation for struggling learners, but not so much for learners who need more, deeper, swifter). Our sidebar discussions sprang from the action research article about the teacher who apparently let much of the class languish while concentrating efforts on the group of below-proficient math students. Someone noted that it looked as if the proficient kids were left hanging for weeks while the others caught up. You can't re-capture lost instructional time. The notable thing for me is how many passionate views and personal stories came out of this. Many people have experienced first-hand--as teachers, curriculum specialists, and parents--that we really only differentiate "down." Differentiation "down" or "up" is hard work, but . . . With all the talk for excellence, many people in the field still believe that we aim for mediocrity--this is what many are seeing, but are afraid to shout out. Then you get into he interesting conversation about the strain in American society that fears intellectual achievement and cries "elitism." It seems to be a form of populism. At the same time, if we repress or under-serve our best and brightest, "Good luck finding those scientists who will make alternative energy, those researchers who will cure cancer, those thinkers who will solve the health care crisis, or those artists and writers who will polish the mirror of human experience for us." This is just one facet of an endlessly interesting conversation!

This shows the struggle of the use of technology in the classroom for some teachers and the embrace of technology of others. It also looks at some ethical debates. It became all too real the importance of helping teachers understand how to integrate technology without losing the battle of retaining good, experienced teachers and balancing ethical issues.

A free tool that allows teachers to publish emails in one spot (ie newsletter), post links and files for students and parents, and have students hand in assignments. Free up to 100mb, and you can create as many drops as you like, so you can have one for news, one for files,one for that special unit you are teaching, etc. At the least it is a quick way to share files too large to pass via email

Found this in the latest issue of Educational Leadership. Also found several posts at the "Free Tech 4 Teachers" Blog. Looks very handy and EASY to use.

This is a wiki post summarizing some key points from "Understanding Digital Children" by Ian Jukes and Prensky's "Digital native and Digital immigrants". To me, this article supports Levin & Schrum (2009) when they claim, "Today's students are bored when they come to schools where they have to sit all day, usually listening to one person talking for extended periods of time, reading outdated textbooks, and being asked to study things they feel they have already learned by watching the Discovery or History channels or learned about from playing some of the incredible historical or science simulation games on their Xboxes or Play Stations" (p.30) The full articles are linked on this wiki post; they worth taking the time to read.

the media files you use in your story have to be ones that are licensed or shared with permission to re-use; this is the only way you can safely then share your new creation knowing it does not contain any copyrighted material plus it is just darn human courtesy to give credit where creation came from. So just finding a picture via Google is not satisfactory. For each media file you find, as you search, be sure to document the source by title and URL and find a person or organization to give credit. "

This is a great page to show teachers a way to help students find creative commons media.

"Most of our young teachers and all of your students are already skilled with using Web 2.0, but they need you to have the knowledge and the vision to use these tools for educational purposes." p.24 Schrum & Levin Without teachers to explain, teach and enforce ideas like intellectual capital, creative commons, and copyright, students would not be aware of these issues. In fact, I'm wondering as our Millenials get into the workforce, if individuals will still be able to profit from intellectual capital. In many ways, the focus on collaboration lessens one individual's worth and transfers the value to the group as a whole. Will this change the way copyright laws work and the models for compensation that have been in place for years?

"Teachers in every strata of education are increasingly dealing with a student population that is not only more wired than they are but also grew up in a techno-drenched atmosphere that has trained them to absorb and process information in fundamentally different ways." This quote from the article sums up the dilemma we are faced with.. I think Edutopia is a terrific resource! I have highlightes more examples in the article that popped out at me that deal with the learning environment and why it needs to change..

I hope that is the correct URL but I can't access Youtube from school. This is a mind-boggling 5 minute video, created in 2006, by a teacher in Colorado. It shows how the 21st century learner will have to deal with a brand new world in which information, technology and knowledge is changing at an exponential rate and we as teachers will have to be educators to students for jobs that haven't even been considered yet. Karl Fisch mentions that today's learners will have 10-14 jobs before their 38th birthday. By 2010 the the rate of new information is predicted to double every 72 hours. Technology and the internet have completely changed the globe. This all relates to the ideas presented in Chapter 2 of Lynn Schrum's book and "how today 's students and tomorrow's teachers are different from previous generations (pG. 39-40), and how digital technology has become seamlessly entwined throughout their lives."

A newer version of this came out this year, which I saw at a conference last week. I posted it below...

I like using this list to spark discussions with teachers about 21st century teaching and learning.

A list of webtricks for teachers using digital content.

Ah, this video gives me goosebumps! It not only relates to what Schrum and Levin articulate but also resonates with the KnowledgeWorks Foundation's "2020 Forecast: Creating the Future of Learning". Oh, and the title, "Human 2.0" is marvelously clever. Check this video out!

I agree, Mary. This is a really thought provoking video. Once again, as I have now read in many articles on the topic, the critical necessity of those using collaborative thought (the people who will survive in the future), is highlighted, along with the importance of flexible thinking, the ability to verify, analyze and synthesize new information, and the ability to work together with people who may possess different cultural ideas and global perspectives. This is reiterated on page 31 of Schrum's book where it states, "We also need to promote 21st century life and career skills in our schools that include flexibility, adaptability, initiative, self-direction, social and cross cultural skills and dispositions that our students are learning and using outside of school while they are plugged in and connected to the Internet. So, if schools are to become relevant for 21st century students and teachers, we have to make some serious changes... " How long do you think it will take American teachers to discover this, change and infuse their teaching with thoughtful and innovative integration of curriculum with technology?

This idea- of understanding & building the capacity for collective intelligence within human networks- whether they be business enterprises, social organizations, nation-states, classrooms, or professional learning communities, is in my opinion, is one of the cornerstones where our Web2.0, our 21stC. Skills and our own Professional Development efforts should focus...

My "ton of bricks" idea: "Now we have an unlimited combination of resources (human and nonhuman), tools, and the creativity to teach in ways that we have only dreamed about" (Schrum & Levin 47). I'm really interested in this notion of multitasking and students helping teachers and teachers helping students learn how to navigate among the different skill sets needed to utilize and then create with the new literacies. I found this Digital_Nation website and it is fantastic. Check out the interviews titled "The Skill of the Future" and "Human 2.0" both featuring Henry Jenkins, USC's Provost's Professor of Communications and Cinematic Arts.

This quicktime movie discusses the issue, occurring in schools across the country, of students being increasingly surrounded by screens. Two teachers, one using new technologies and the other not, debate how to handle their split focus.

Schrum's book (p. 29): "It is no wonder that so many of today's students feel they have to power down and feel disconnected when they come to school."

The reason I selected this article to share is that I think it's important to know what critics are saying about this important education reform so that we can counter with facts and solutions. I will say, however, that the author does point out two real challenges to successful implementation of 21st Century Skills reform- simultaneous implementation across the education strata, and a lack of adequately trained teachers (and administrators).

Laptop vs. Paper Pencil Competitiion

This is a very interesting comparison between students that are being exposed to the older conventional teaching practices to students that are being exposed to 21st Century teaching. As discussed in our Leading 21st Century Schools book in Chapter 2. Talented teachers are needed, but they're students miss out if they are not using technology. It really sums it up in a quick blog posting. Very powerful.