“Being able to read and write multiple forms of media and integrate them into a meaningful whole is the new hallmark of literacy.” jason Ohler wrote a nice piece outlining eight guidelines for teachers and with regard to [media] literacy. Educational Leadership, March, 2009 (Vol. 66 No. 6) Read here…
What happens to time-worn concepts of classrooms and teaching when we can now go online and learn anything, anywhere, anytime? Edutopia, Oct. 2006. http://www.edutopia.org/new-face-learning
Wanted: Chief technology officer for a medium-sized school district. Advanced degree and background in education, finance, business and technology required. Must have strong organizational and interpersonal skills and be an expert on strategic planning, budgeting, IT staffing, computer networking, data management, security issues and standards, computer operating systems, hardware maintenance and repair, and all aspects of running an IT business. Must require no more than two hours of sleep per night.
http://www.schoolcio.com/schoolcio/whitepapers/WhatitTakesEssentialSkills.pdf
ISSUE: Knowledgeable and effective school leaders are extremely important in determining whether technology use will improve learning for all students. Many school administrators may be uncomfortable providing leadership in technology areas, however. They may be uncertain about implementing effective technology leadership strategies in ways that will improve learning, or they may believe their own knowledge of technology is inadequate to make meaningful recommendations…. http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le700.htm
Recent articles in the nation’s two most influential newspapers draw an inaccurate picture of education technology. A three-pronged counteroffensive is in order. http://thejournal.com/articles/20775
“What skills are necessary for success in the workplace of the 21st century? And do new entrants to the workforce, graduates of high school, two-year and four-year colleges have those skills? These and other questions were posed in a survey of human resource professionals mounted in the spring of 2006 by The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and the Society for Human Resource Management.” http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/FINAL_REPORT_PDF09-29-06.pdf
Rick Atkins (Education Collaborative, Waltham, Mass) highly recommends reading a recent publication by a British think-tank, Demos, titled “Their Space.” The publication highlights the ways in which students are increasingly looking to their peers to get information and knowledge, and calls for schools to find ways to support this shift. You can download a free PDF at http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/theirspace (79 pages)
Excerpt: In order to see change across the system, there needs to be a shift in thinking about investment from hardware towards relationships and networks. In the last ten years we have seen a staggering change in the amount of hardware in schools, but it has not had a significant impact on teaching and learning styles. So what does this mean for schools? It means that they need to really listen and respond to their users. Schools often fail to start in the right place – with the interests and enthusiasms of their students. They also need to recognise the new digital divide – one of access to knowledge rather than hardware – and start to redress some of the existing imbalances. Finally they need to develop strategies to bridge formal and informal learning, home and school. They should find ways that go with the grain of what young people are doing, in order to foster new skills and build on what we know works.The world has changed so why haven’t we?The current generation of young people will reinvent the workplace, and the society they live in. They will do it along the progressive lines that are built into the technology they use everyday – of networks, collaboration, co-production and participation. The change in behaviour has already happened.We have to get used to it, accept that the flow of knowledge moves both ways and do our best to make sure that no one is left behind.
As NEA celebrates its 150th anniversary, we asked educators and experts what they see in the years ahead. [NEA Today, May 2007]
This article explains how information technology is reorganizing how, where, when, with whom, and even why people work. [November Learning]
Project-based learning teaches kids the collaborative and critical thinking abilities they’ll need to compete. [Edutopia June 2006]
