I found this video on Twitter tonight thanks to David Walker (@drdjwalker) who re-tweeted the video from The Partnership of 21st Century Skills. The video is called "Above and Beyond: the story of the 4Cs". Enjoy "In an increasingly complex, demanding and competitive 21st century, students need to learn more than the 3R's they are tested on in school. Although the 3R's are the foundation of learning (most especially reading), students must be prepared to Think Creatively and have Intellectual Curiosity in order to excel in the 21st century.

One of a series of posts on different types of internet based tools and their use in education; backchannels engage students who otherwise might not contribute, evens the playing field; students ask questions on the fly without interrupting; gives teacher feedback on the level of understanding or confusion in the class; does not recommend twitter for classroom alternative backchannels teacher can manage ; It will improve writing and a student's ability to articulate themselves quickly using text. Students must have Effective Digital Communication Skills in order to be successful in the 21st century. One digital communication skill that is needed is to have the ability to articulate quickly and succinctly using text.

This article examines why media/digital literacy must be added to the common core standards to better prepare students for life in the 21st century. "While they (young people) may be media-savvy, we maintain that they are not necessarily media- or digital-literate. In order to be successful in the 21st century, students need to be both Information and Media Literate. In order to encourage schools to implement Information and Media Literacy in the curriculum, media/digital literacy should be added to common core standards. Assessments should be devised in which students are assessed using digital formats.

Great article on the benefits of a course blog . . . " Students who read, commented, and were involved with the blog maintained their initially positive attitudes" towards course.

Summaries the benefits of blogging: blogging is public, we are more attentive to quality of work; blogging creates a person-centered discussion; and blogging "encourages higher levels of reasoning-- at times upper levels--analyzing, evaluating, and creating--of Bloom's Taxonomy" and ways to get started.

Kevin Jones summarizes the difference between Web 1.0, CMS, Web 2.0, Social Media, and You Tube.

Steve Wheeler's article discusses seven benefits of teacher blogging.