Joe, I know Michelle Shupp has her Latin IV students use Google Sites for the past few years. There are also a few middle school teachers using them. I'm really intrigued by the idea of our students creating digital portfolios that can follow them even beyond high school.
Greg Burrows at the middle school has spent some time researching digital portfolios and has spoken with me about them. Maybe the social studies department is a place to begin something with students?? I know science is also talking about the passport idea that passes along with students. I wonder what they are using to track their idea.
According to this article we are right on track with our elementary technology day coming up in a few weeks. This PD promises to be exciting. Thanks Anne for the hard work leading up to this day!
It would be nice to see a few schools who truly have successfully integrated technology into their schools with these tools and practices. We could likely pick up some good ideas on how and how not to implement. Our IU is working to locate districts like these and arrange visits.
making sure that students are able to navigate new ways of reading and writing.
: the ability to read texts closely—to be text detectives. As students enter a world in which they will do much of their reading and writing on a screen, it makes sense to start by looking at nonprint texts, such as in the genres of video, music, and visual art.
This will also help our kids to become more critical consumers of information. They'll know that it's important to focus on the entire message...not just the "words". They'll understand how advertisers and others can use sounds, images, lighting, etc. to influence the emotions of the consumer.
Although standardized assessments continue to be based on individual work, we know that our students will, with rare exceptions, be expected to work collaboratively on projects after they graduate. And those projects will frequently involve shaping and writing texts with others.
Once students are able to perceive and analyze the details evident in many different kinds of texts, we are moving toward the goal of close reading, no matter what kind of text they read.
teachers need to give students time and opportunity to write together.
More powerful than a room full of gadgets is a teacher who has a deep understanding of what the new forms of reading and writing entail.