Moving away from teacher centered tech many a times happens naturally when in the presence of digital natives. We know that collaboration, creativity and life-long learning are essential skills for the future. There is a fine line between setting standards, showing exemplars and boxing students in. But if there is no bar set then how do we hold students accountable?
Our middle school is what some would consider a leader in technology integration. Look we even won an award:)
But I just can’t help but notice that students are turning inward instead of leveraging this technology to collaborate. Which brings me to the idea of curriculum……..when students cover the same context as they did pre-laptop but just in new ways with more bells and whistles they are not extending there reach they are playing……and at best getting good at navigating collaborative tools amongst themselves w/in the school walls.
To truly enhance learning experiences we need to find ways are educators to extend the reach of students beyond the classroom with technology far better than we are doing now. But we need the help of organizations outside of schools to do this. One example of this that has potential is the new Peace Corp project Worldwise Schools that matches volunteers with teachers in classrooms.
How can we teach our students to navigate the world of ever growing information in the present and for the future?
What are ways in which social media can be used to leverage access to real time information for our students?
How does the Big6 IL approach help to successfully navigate vast amounts of information?
What are ways teachers can check to see where students are in the Big6 process of IL and how can a students ability to articulate where they are increase their ability to problem solve independently?
What are some of the reasons why the movement away from teaching isolated computer skills to teaching integrated information and technology skills is essential?
Where can you see the real context for IL in your curriculum?
The amount of information an individual encounters today is vastly different then in the past. Today the problem is not being able to find an answer to a question but being able to sift through vast amounts of information to determine the best answer to the question. Michael Eisenberg a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle has researched particular Information Literacy (IL) methods to locate, assess and use information that is desired as well as separate out information that is not. In his 2008 article “Information Literacy: Essential Skills for the Information Age” Eisenberg presents three specific contexts for IL to bring about success in the teaching and learning process which hold extremely valuable insight for the teaching and learning process.
Essential skills according to Eisenberg (2008) from the US Department of Labor for the 21st century for all types of workers “must include the ability to: (i) acquire and use information, and (ii) work with a variety of technologies” (p. 39). In the context of teaching and learning this means that we must not merely teach our students information or computer skills but the ability to apply computer skills in authentic ways to access pertinent information. Successful workers now need to tackle the “information problems and be able to locate, use, synthesize, and evaluate information in relation to those problems” (Eisenberg, 2008, p. 39). Due largely in part to the rapid expansion of informational technology and networked information education has migrated away from one primary information resource highlighting the need for teaching specific IL strategies not only in the library but in all classrooms.
Eisenberg (2008) highlights three basic foundations for successful IL application: first that information is a process in and of itself, second that technology is the context in which to find information and finally the application of such information for real needs. This foundation provides focus and better positions individuals for success by transparently outlining the process. Understanding that all three are ever present and interdependent sets the tone for successful strategies for teaching IL in today’s classrooms by specifically calling upon students to understand and be able to identify where they are in their application of the IL process.
A particular strategy developed by Eisenberg (2008) titled the Big6 is an approach to teaching information and technology skills in the real world context. With the Big6 model students are taught to handle any problem, assignment, decision or task. The model has six stages: task definition, information seeking strategies, location and access, use of information, synthesis and evaluation in which all individuals move through when looking for or using information when solving a problem.
Opportunities for students must be provided for them to learn and practice IL skills. Curriculum planning must allow for integration of information skills instruction across all grades and all context areas to allow students to develop a full range of skills in a variety of ways. Collaborating to plan ways in which this can happen is the first step in delivering these opportunities for students in context and will move students toward successfully entering the workforce in the future.
I learned my lesson of in delaying to activate Akismet! After being slammed by spam…I know I know obviously it was going to happen but some how my attempt to tune out of awhile has come back to haunt me.
Solution the all but unfortunate phpadmin slq delete from wp_comments where comment_approved = ‘0′
As I transition from an international school in Shanghai to my new school in Zürich I find myself in the middle of packing and purging madness. This process is quite cleansing in a way but the one thing that I can’t help but feel sad to let go is the blog that to date has had over 20,000 visitors.
I created the blog to help showcase a multi million dollar facility and to document the learning process as it took form and developed within. Now as I leave I am passing over the helm to a colleague and can’t wait to get started on my new learning environment online at my new school.
At this stage I just can’t help but wonder-
When teachers create online learning environments the main purpose is for the students but this very selfless act leaves one (unless they are self hosted) having to start completely over if they move schools if they do not self host. At this point in the year if I had access to my new schools online learning environments I would be moving and creating already but, since I don’t I have one of two choices….
self host and take control of my content
wait until August and most likely not have my “classroom” as I like to think of it online read for my new students as they walk through the door
What would you do…. what are the pros of self hosting and what are the cons?
If you where Bhutan you would rank your happiness by the GNH (Gross National Happiness) which is comprised of a variety of wellness factors. If your me…and it’s today you get sucked in and find yourself wondering if Happy Tweets and your new ranking of “Very Happy” 536, based on your twitter conversations is in anyway a reasonable indication of your level of happiness.
Which brings me to wonder….. Are online learning environments generally more positive? How would this be measured?
For some time now my lurkeresk (probably not a word but…) tendency’s have really bothered me. Until now I have yet to find words for my feeling but just like most things it this crazy connected world so one else has. Jim Lebans audio take on lurking sums up what I have been feeling ever since I started blogging, reading blogs and somehow very seldom actually commenting.
I am so thankful for all that post there thoughts online. Even those that I completely disagree with are thought provoking and for that I am thankful. I wonder what the blogesphere will look as more and more digital natives grow and gain perspectives that they want to share?
Spending much of my childhood playing in the woods, lakes and mountains of Northern Idaho my appreciation for nature is deeply rooted. Now living in one of the largest and most polluted cities in the world, Shanghai my perspective on development is multifaceted but to be truthful I would trade the shopping-brunch lifestyle for a PB and J with my feet dangling off the dock on lake Pend D’ Orelle any day.
Obviously there must be a balance between the two and the little N. Idaho town of Sandpoint near where I grew up is doing just that. In a recent article in the New York Times Sandpoint’s initiative to join the Transition Culture movement is explained. In an effort to build a sustainable community the town has embarked on a low energy low impact movement.
In Shanghai on Washan Lu about 20 kilometers from the city center a transition is happening too. Only this one is stark contrast with frenetic development of a transportation (high speed railway, car over passes and subway lines) corridor.
Both cities are moving forward with plans toward a better life in the future but this time the west is taking steps in the opposite direction. In Shanghai to make way for the new transportation corridor the low energy- low impact village style way of life has literally be leveled down and carried away. Homes, businesses and the walking-biking way of life that existed some two years ago are all but distant memories that are drowned out by the cranes and concrete.
As an educator this leaves me thinking how should transition culture be learned from in K-12 education. History and literature set the context but current changes do not seem in most educational models to be worthy of content time until they are long past….but why?
The local charter school in Sandpoint is making great connections with the small town community, engaging students in real time happenings. Here is Shanghai at one of the largest and most well funded private international schools in the world there is very little connection to changes happening around us. It’s almost as if the process of development must happen and only from hind site will constituents be reflective enough to realize whole community involvement is warranted.
Hirsch, E. D. (1987). Cultural literacy: what every american needs to know. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.
As one of my classmates stated “Hirsch believes many Americans are lacking “cultural literacy,” or a basic knowledge of any and all topics relevant to our country. He asserts that without background knowledge of cultural literacy, one cannot truly comprehend and think critically about what they read. Throughout this book, Hirsch emphasizes the need for cultural literacy to be taught in the schools, and he states that the schools are not doing enough to support cultural literacy in today’s students.”
I would say that (80%) of the students at my current school I would say are culturally literate on a global level by this I mean they have a good foundation of the basics in all subjects including world history but truly lack the ability to apply their knowledge in innovative and imaginative ways.
The majority of the students are very driven both by themselves and their parents (taking lots of AP’s and studying/cramming intensely for each and every class). Most of the rest say 18% have the ability to think creatively, imagine and innovate but do not do so on a very deep level because they are lacking cultural literacy. The students that truly shine are few and far between but they do so because they have both! Their creativity is build upon a really solid understanding of the basics therefore they don’t reinvent but innovate in totally new ways.
Interestingly enough our HS students are getting their acceptances and fifteen have been accepted into Ivy league schools. Knowing most of them they are the ones that have cultural literacy as a solid foundation and have the ability to apply it in innovative ways. Their ability to put this “Cultural Literacy + Innovative Authentic Application” has provided the outcome of “= Top College Acceptances.” Not that IVY acceptances is the only measurement of K-12 learning sucess but it is certainly held in high regard and provides evidence that both, cultural literacy and innovative, creative authentic expereiences are essential varibles that when put together equal a powerful combination.
If you where Bhutan you would rank your happiness by the 