"A year after seventh grade teacher Elizabeth Delmatoff started a pilot social media program in her Portland, Oregon classroom, 20% of students school-wide were completing extra assignments for no credit, grades had gone up more than 50%, and chronic absenteeism was reduced by more than a third. "
Good thinkers certainly have thinking skills. But they also have more: Motivations, attitudes, values and habits of mind all play key roles in good thinking, and in large part it is these elements that determine whether people use their thinking skills when it counts.
This is the key behind "Dispositions." Yes, people need the skill/abiity to think critically, but this doesn't tend to happen unless they have a desire to do so.
This is where other frameworks for thinking could be used as well. If a school has been working with Art Costa's Habits of Mind or Robert Marzano's Dimensions of Learning, these can be used here. The main point is that "enculturation" is the solution, not "teaching" critical thinking.
a disposition is something we want students to evidence on their own ─ without being pushed or prompted to evidence it"
Suggestion: this is where an online space, focused on intrinsically motivating experiences is an asset. Changes in thinking and motivation require substantial time and repetition.
"people in their 20s exert more control over their digital reputations than older adults, more vigorously deleting unwanted posts and limiting information about themselves."
It is good news about the older teenagers, and those in their 20's however as noted in the article "Younger teenagers were not included in these studies, and they may not have the same privacy concerns. But anecdotal evidence suggests that many of them have not had enough experience to understand the downside to oversharing". These kids need to be our target audience when talking about cybersafety etc, as like with many other facets of a teenagers life, they don't necessarily have the "fear factor" and understand the long term risks.
"Today's math curriculum is teaching students to expect -- and excel at -- paint-by-numbers classwork, robbing kids of a skill more important than solving problems: formulating them. "
I know my students are learning how to use a text book, take them outside and measure/photograph a problem and they are left hanging. This is a great view on how to get students to discover knowledge. It is a powerful tool.