A Paradigm Shift from Education 1.0 to Education 2.0

Much has been learned about the ways in which students learn.  This has transpired into new teaching methods, and to a large extent, a shift towards more student-centered learning.  Technology has been [and will continue to be] infused with education.  This infusion has been present for some time now, but it has always resulted in a final paper or some type of project from the student.  The more advanced phase of this infusion can be labeled as Education 2.0.  In these classrooms, the student role shifts from a consumer of information to a producer of information.  A student has a wider audience rather than just a teacher and fellow students.  The audience now consists of the World Wide Web, students in other schools, other school districts, other countries;  the list is infinite depending on the restrictions of the particular school district.  This wider audience is reason for students to be more engaged and enthusiastic about school.  In Education 2.0 the student has become;  the Producer of information, Publisher of information, a Peer-Reviewer of information, and a member of the Audience.  Because of these new student roles the most valid form of assessment will be portfolio-based;  this will be more and more common as time goes on.

The Building Blocks of 21st Century Literacy

 Possessing the skills needed to be effectively literate for 21st century learning requires several different components and fluencies of  learners and teachers.  These skills are particulary of a technological nature.  Of course, it is necessary that one be literate in traditional ways (a whole separate set of building blocks) first in order to be technologically literate.  As future educators, we will see more and more technology being implemented for the purpose of instructing students.  As mentioned in a previous posts this dynamic requires higher-order thinking skills of the learner.  It also requires higher-order thinking from educators.  This higher thinking doesn't come pre-packaged in one box.  There are steps, sharp inclines, and cliffs to ascend to reach the summit.  In order to drive the machine of 21st Century Learning teachers and students need to embrace, harness, and effectively utilize three main building blocks...

• Computer Literacy is basically the comfort level at which the user is at with basic computer skills. It is the physicality, the familiararity with the machine.  Can you turn it on?  Do you know how to navigate through the hard drive?  Can you install/unintall software and hardware to personalize your machine?  The extent to which one is computer literate is an integral component to driving the machine.
• Information Literacy is knowing how to make your computer literacy work for you.  Do you know how and where to find information that is most important to you?  Can you merge Computer and Information Literacies effectively and efficeintly to get better gas mileage out of your machine.
• Integration Literacy is ultimately the culmination of the two drive components.  Can you effectively integrate all literacies to learn?  Learning technologically requires the ability to make connections, comparisons, and to draw on any and all resources to reach the driver's seat.

You Bet We Follow NETS-S

The International Society for Technology in Education has written standards for promoting technology in the classroom.  The National Educational Technology Standards for Students., when applied, encourage higher order thinking skills in students.  Technology standards are a much-needed add-on to the current taxonomy of educating our children in the 21st century.  If we want the critical tinking from students ( a major component of the current educational concern) then we need standards to aspire to.  But, in order for teachers to wholeheartedly promote these standards in the classroom, the school district needs to be 100% committed to supporting the standards.  Just as districts are committed to the traditional educational standards, there needs to be the same commitment to technology. 

I am currently not a full-time teacher nor do I know what ISTE standardards are guiding and influencing curriculum.  However, I am a Substitute Teacher and have seen evidence of students' uses of various technology for school work.  I have seen creativity and innovation from students in putting together projects and presentations.  Although this is the only standard that I've witnessed come to fruition, I don't want to sell today's students/teachers short. 

The ability is there.  The commitment is not there.  The expectation is not there.  I feel confident in my readiness to embrace all new technology to come and to meet the standards.  The students will demand the commitment from me.  I will demand the commitment from the school district.  My commitment will be fueled by professional development, continueing education, and flexibility.  This is the fuel that will give technology in education a chance.

"The [Digital] Natives Are Coming!"

No, they're here already!  They speak a different language.  They think differently, not step by step, but globally.  The article, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, makes some excellent observations concerning a [presumed] communication gap between old school teachers (Digital Immigrants) and students that have grown up alongside all types of technology (Digital Natives).  The article also purports that this communication gap adds to the decline of the United State's educational system when compared to other industrialized nations.  This adds weight to the notion that todays students are not the learners that the educational system  was originally designed for. 

I was intrigued while reading the article.  Could this really be?  Are teachers really doing the disservice of refusing to learn the new language of technology to their students?  As I have mentioned in previous posts, everyone can learn something from anyone as long as he/she has an open mind.  This goes both ways.  Students can learn from teachers and vice versa.  As a future teacher, I will need to learn this new language by participating in professional development and being receptive to the new knowledge that students can offer me.  Any and all souces new knowledge need to be embraced if one wishes to continue to be an effective educator.

But alas there is reason for hope I believe.  After all, this article was written in 2001 as a wake-up call.  It worked.  Proof of this is evident through the advent of a taxonomy of technology integration in classrooms with the creation of National Education Technology Standards and LoTi.  Progress is slow.  It doesn't happen overnight.  Unfortunately, resistance to change is a human quality in many teachers.  These teachers, I suspect, are approaching retirement.  Newer and younger teachers will bring with them new experiences with technology and be better prepared to adapt their intruction for the Digital Natives.

A1 Picasion Slide Show

Throughout this Literacy and Technology class so far (2 weeks in) I have experienced many different feelings. At times I have felt in control of the instruction. At times I have felt that my control was spiralling helplessly out of control. And at other times I have felt very scattered in the fact that I have been at a loss of where to start. You could say that I have felt like a tennis ball being batted all over the place in the realm of understanding.

Never fear though. My understanding is coming around. To kick off the class I had to reflect [using various tools] on why I want to teach, my inspirations, my values, and showcase all using a combination of pictures and words. Here is a little slide show of all that I have done so far to reflect...

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This slide show was made with picasion.com. It was very easy. The only trick is that the pictures need to be in jpeg format. Getting all of the screen shots saved in the proper format prove to be somewhat cumbersome due to my lack of knowledge. Although I am proud to say that I persevered.  I will definitely use this tool in the future

The Voice of a Digital Native (Personal Learning Environments)

The idea of paperless classrooms (prior to college) and Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) for students is amazing. It is also scary. It means that future teachers really need to step up their game (especially me) and become comfortable and well-versed when utilizing the internet for instructional purposes. I never thought there would come a day when a classroom would be virtually paperless and the students posted all work electronically for the teacher to see. I am in Graduate School and am experiencing it for the first time. Here is a seventh grader experiencing it! The teacher of this student is obviously comfortable and well-versed when using Web 2.0 tools for collaboration and instruction.

Based on my limited knowledge thus far, I believe this particular classroom is at a level 5 - Expansion, on the LoTi scale. This is evident to me because:

• Collaborations have extended beyond the classroom with the student's utilization of Skype to confer with various experts.
• Emphasis is placed on learner-centered strategies through the student's use of a Personal Learning Environment for the purposes of research, collaboration, and sharing information with peers and teachers. The student's PLE is a collection of websites that resides on her laptop.
• The level of complexity of the student's PLE is contingent on his/her level of complex thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, evaluation).

I did not think the LoTi was at a level 6 because it seems that level 6 is purely constructivist. In level 6, instructional curriculum is entirely learner-based. The seventh-grader seemed to be in a class where the curriculum was dictated by the teacher, but the mode of learning was up to the student.

The Spin Cycle

Tonight was our first WebEx class for Literacy and Technology. A multitude of material was covered; the class framework, activity reports, blogging, wikis, high achievement assignments (HA), readings, reflections, tutorials, discussion forum. I'm sure I missed something, but you get the gist (my sound kept going out...very frustrating). This was my first experience with any type of online instruction. As a result I was a bit apprehensive about how much insight I would gain.

As the class proceeded I found it hard to receive the information that Dr. S was verbalizing. This sounds like a strange thing to say (to me it does). So, I found myself thinking this. I wondered why I was thinking this. I think I came up with an answer to why I was thinking this.

Nowadays collaboration takes place by any means [as we saw tonight]. Email and text...that's been my game so far. Now I find out about wdydwyd, blogging, and google docs (we used google docs for the first group project); it's like being reborn. This influx of new information has my brain feeling like it is on the Spin Cycle. These bits of information are spinning around and around aimlessly and not really forming any cohesiveness with what I already know [or thought I knew] about technology. So, this is truly how I felt. But, back to my cunundrum; why was it hard for my brain to receive the information?

Upon thinking about why I thought this, I have come to the conclusion that, up until now, I have taken "traditional" classroom instruction for granted. The instructor is physically present, classmates are there, and there is a vibe in the classroom that is almost palpable. This vibe can usually be credited with one's assurances of "getting it". This vibe is missing online. More than the echo, It is was the lack of that "traditional" classroom instruction stimulation that made it hard for my brain to receive the information. Online instruction adds a new dynamic to my "traditional" processes for learning.

As you can gather, this week saw many firsts for me. Groups had to collaborate for purposes of producing Digital Cards that are representative of their 'takes' on technology and education. I thought we were just going to do the traditional emailing of drafts back and forth until all were happy. Then, a fellow group member pulled up Google docs and we started to revise cards online so all member could see. I was entrigued. I never knew that I could watch a presentation being updated online. I suspect that this is the scenario that I can expect to encounter for the next 5 weeks, Very cool!

I am going to learn so much. I am not apprehensive. I am going to embrace all of these unfamiliar tools of learning and get the Spin Cycle under control.