One of the great things about the ECI classes I have taken are the people. I have had the great fortune to learn from others in these classes. I have grown my Professional Network as a result and made some friends along the way. Curtis Bourassa, Matteo DiMuro, and myself sat down and had an after hours conversation called '832 Sips'. Here we reviewed and reflected on our major project and all the amazing ECI 832 experience we had. So cosy on up with a beverage of your choice and enjoy '832 Sips' yourself.
2 Comments
Here's my vlog for this week's blog post. I tried to do a walk and talk 'rant' on this week's topic. I then turned to the net to find some answers to my own question. Would love to hear what you think.
Here's my vlog entry on Literacy.
Sources
Video - www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1E5LTa3K8s Website / Info Graphic - www.skyward.com/discover/blog/skyward-blogs/skyward-executive-blog/march-2017/the-top-10-literacies-in-education-today
Learning from this week's readings:
https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/fake-news-complicated/ To understand the current information ecosystem, we need to break down three elements:
www.ssla.ca/uploads/9/5/3/6/95368874/emerging_literacy_challenges_in_a_fake_news_world.pdf A Stanford History Education Group study revealed that over 80% of students could not distinguish real from fake news on the web. A quote from the Global Digital Citizenstates “When we talk about Information Fluency we’re talking about applying critical analytical thinking to information. It means developing a mindset that encourages us not to take what we see online at face value.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_aXzpeam0s&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtM6jSpzb5gMNsx9kdmqBfmY&index=13 Not looking forward to ads recognizing me and changing based on my data. Data literacy is something I researched about and try to teach my math students (ex looking at the scale on a graph) Algorithmic Literacy is an area that I feel only few even know about and even fewer even understand.
Things I learned from my classmates on this:
Christina https://digitalidentity.school.blog/2020/03/07/implementing-digital-citizenship-and-update-on-major-project/ I find it amazing that something so part of today's society is left to chance. It’s great that more of us are taking classes like this and promoting in the classroom. I'd say you are not fully literate unless you are digital/media literate. Common sense is a great resource. Have you talked to your pre-interns about digital citizenship ... what do they know / learned? Leigh https://whentheteacherbecomesthestudent.wordpress.com/2020/03/14/march-13-2020-what-does-it-mean-to-be-media-literate/ Well developed post. You definitely understand the importance of media literacy and the factors that contribute to its development. I'd argue that media literacy is becoming a huge part of the all the other literacies and that you wouldn't be able to be fully literate in any literacy unless you understood how media literacy relates or is part of. Great tie ins to other classmates work as well. Good read. Thank you. Matt https://mattbresciani.weebly.com/eci-832/becoming-media-literate-in-todays-society#comments The beauty of this class is it really gets you to think how literacy has been impacted by media and the importance of bringing this into the classroom. It so interesting how a meme has so much impact (kind of like political cartoons back in the day) on how youth get most of their information. I'm glad you are taking the valuable time to have these important conversations with your students especially during this extraordinary time. Honoured you thought my CRAP sheet is a good resource (any suggestions welcome and please feel free to use / adapt - let me know if you want original file). Keep up the great work. Sarah https://sarahjrossblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/18/what-does-it-mean-to-be-literate-today-what-might-be-some-different-elements-of-being-fully-literate Thanks for the share. I really enjoyed the crash course video and will have to check out the following videos in this course. So many types of media and it is interesting how messages are encoded and decoded. I have come across similar media concept lists in my research and the second question about what creative techniques is a very good one as sometimes we are 'duped' by smoke and mirrors for sure. Another good point was to also question what's not there. I have done work with my students in this area and hope to get better. Trevor https://trevorkerr7.wordpress.com/2020/03/14/literacy-in-the-21st-century/ Totally agree with your comments in your post. Balance is key. I feel that if we are not promoting and championing digital literacy we are not doing our jobs helping students in the world we are currently in and in the future. Being able to adapt in this area is crucial. Without physical literacy our students will not be able to make healthy decisions that will affect them physically, mentally, and spiritually. Thanks for the post and keep doing the important work you are doing. Victoria https://explorationsined.tech.blog/2020/03/13/what-does-it-mean-to-be-literate-today/ I think you are right that there are many areas to be literate (partially or fully). That's what life long learning is so important and just like digital literacy things constantly change. I liked Trevor's blog post (just read before yours) that balance is key in these areas and that physical literacy is just as important as many of the 'established' ones. Great post.
What happens when our #eci832 class meets up with #saskedchat ... magic that's what (and a bit of carpal tunnel). On Tuesday March 10th, we spent the last hour of our ECI 832 class doing a special Tuesday edition Saskedchat (usually #saskedchat is on Thursdays at 8 PM CST). It all started out with reaching out to the amazing lead moderator and co-founder (an PhD candidate) Kelly Christopherson. The weekly chat has been active for many years and attracts educators and those interested in education from around Saskatchewan and around North America. It has been a great source of community, sharing, best practice, and food for thought. The chat is dynamic and always looking for new ideas, topics, and guest moderators. So I thought it would be a great fit for our ECI 832 class especially in unison with our course content and our strong class community. Kelly was more than open to this which also included a switch from the regular Thursday night time slot to a special Tuesday night edition. I also pitched the idea to Alec who was as always open to having our class engage in new ways to learning and sharing. Once Alec gave the thumbs up to this opportunity I started to plan out the chat. I was very grateful and happy that fellow ECI832 classmate and frequent saskedchat contributor Curtis Bourassa offered to help organize and moderate the chat. I opened up a google doc to allow for classmates to add questions to ... got a couple of questions but thought it would be great to use the weekly questions from our class as we have discussed some in our group already and preview a few of our future topics. We also spent some time in class review what a Twitter chat looked like and tools like Tweetdeck to stay organized and on top of one of the fastest hours of your life (haha). Used Photoshop to create the question and welcome cards, then sent the cards to Kelly to schedule into the chat time slot. You can use tools like Tweetdeck or Buffer to schedule exactly when you want a tweet to come out. The chat was promoted in our class and with the saskedchat community prior to the event. So when 8 PM on Tuesday March 10th rolled around it was go time. I stayed on our Zoom chat and this created a great back channel chat with Curtis, Matteo, Amanada and a few others. The action was fast and furious. I have moderated a chat before but this one was really 'hopping' and Curtis and I were laughing about how fast our fingers were flying. It was very gratifying and special to see two communities that I care a lot about come together, meet, mingle, and chat about a topic that is important to all of us. I hope that people came away with at least on take away they will use, grew there PLN, and hopefully see a Twitter chat like saskedchat is a great way to share, learn, and grow. As Kelly would say it would be a great opportunity to experience #mypdtoday. As an added bonus Curtis, Matteo, and myself had a little after hours session. We had a beverage and just continued to talk about the chat and whatever else we wanted. It was special and we are even thinking about making it a thing and invite others to the informal get together. Thanks to all that made this possible especially Kelly, Alec, and Curtis. An added bonus was that the #saskedchat hashtag was trending #4 in Canada (almost beat out the Bachelor haha).
#ECI832 + #SASKEDCHAT Highlights of the Night
Here are a few highlights of the night for each question. It was great to watch the exchanges fly by but each of these either sparked a thought, shared a resource, or added to the rich discussion that was taking place. Check out the chat wakelet at the bottom. What were a few of your highlights?
Adam
https://adamscottwilliamsblog.wordpress.com/category/eci-832/ I don't get to use Google Classroom much (just a few times through these classes). Thanks for sharing your experiences with this tool - especially the rubric creator which is a nice feature. Glad you and your students are befitting from GC. Amanda https://edtechendeavours.wordpress.com/category/eci832/ Absolutely great stuff here. I have tried to dabble a little bit in this area as well. I have thoroughly enjoyed the conversations I have. I think you have focused in on a target area that doesn't always get targeted, but also general enough that anyone could pick up a few things from your topics. Maybe you should reach out out to Kathy Cassidy in Moose Jaw ... she did / does some amazing things with her grade 1s and is internationally known for her work ... think you would have a good one there. Again honoured to be on your list. Jennifer Casa-Todd is a great person with lots to share ... I'd recommend reaching out to her ... that would be a great podcast! That's the power of a podcast have a device and some ear buds and away you go ... can learn a lot while on the go or just kickin back. I'm looking forward to seeing/hearing more of your work. Christina https://digitalidentity.school.blog/2020/02/15/week-5-digital-citizenship-and-major-project-update/ Loved you first quote and totally agree that social media should be improving one's life not destroying it. You last one kinda caught me off guard ... if it's Antonio Brown the football player he might be the last one I'd take life advice from haha and his use of social media is pretty toxic imo. If you are looking a tik tok this may be a low risk high reward activity to do with your kiddos https://ditchthattextbook.com/create-a-tiktok-style-experience-with-google-slides/ Lots of great points in your post and good luck with improving your iPad effectiveness (have you looked at explain everything - might be a good one to compare to showme). Curtis https://curtisbourassa.wordpress.com/2020/02/11/ribbles-nine-elements-of-digital-citizenship-and-a-critical-questions-on-tiktok/ Great post. Really like how you organized each tool with bullet points and the digital citizenship element that goes with it. You know I'm a big fan of Wakelet. I found this activity and it may be of interest to you https://ditchthattextbook.com/create-a-tiktok-style-experience-with-google-slides/ I have thought about doing something with Tik Tok especially when I had my social 9 class ... I'll have to figure out something with my math classes - my figure out how to do a three act math play tik tok style. Daina https://seymoureci.wordpress.com/ Thanks for a great read and lots to think about. I have similar conversations with my own two kids (who are a bit older) but definitely attached to their devices quite a bit. I love the way you did your own survey and analyzed the results ... it would be very interesting to do with other demographics / sample sizes and compare results. I'm impressed with the way you are incorporating the resources you have found and creating your own conclusions and findings. Looking forward to seeing where this takes you next. Daniel https://danieldion1.wordpress.com/category/eci832/ I always here the French Immersion teachers at my school talk about the same access to resources in French. It's great to hear about your interactions with your students and that they have come up with lots on their own (always what we hope for as teachers) and you may need to make adjustments based on what access students have. I'm staying tuned for sure. Kalyn https://kalynhumeniuk.wordpress.com/category/eci-832/ Great post. This happened a lot before to in print magazines but definitely has changed quite a bit with social media and access to filters/photoshop. Unfortunately many take get their esteem from 'likes' now a days (especially) youth. Hopefully we can educate and support our youth to love the skin their in as is. Important information. Krysta https://kcappy.wordpress.com/ Great post.You model digital citizenship with your use, willingness to learn, and expectations. Good luck with your journey. Cool you got the 'Ditch That Textbook' author to leave a response too :-) Laurie https://digitallearning.news.blog/category/eci-832/ Glad you had an opportunity to recharge. Here's an option for to explore a tik tok style lesson without tik tok https://ditchthattextbook.com/create-a-tiktok-style-experience-with-google-slides/ I love Wakelet I use it a lot personally and have used in my class here's a wakelet that one of my students put together on the fall election https://wke.lt/w/s/_sN8RY and here's how I have used it as a school newsletter https://wakelet.com/@oneilltitans Thanks for sharing Leigh https://whentheteacherbecomesthestudent.wordpress.com/category/eci-832/ Great work (especially when running on fumes haha :)) Glad you caught the Flipgrid Fever and that it has had a positive impact on your class. Common sense is a great source for sure. Youtube has certainly become a source for lots of entertainment and learning possibilities. I know my own kids don't watch TV at all but Youtube is a different story. Loved your vlog. Kinda reminds me of the teaching journals I used to do. A great place to share and collect your thoughts. Thanks for a peak into your classroom (learning community space) and looking forward to your reports on your Super Power Photo Booth (great idea). Matt https://mattbresciani.weebly.com/eci-832 Great post. In terms of the term of service, I had put this on extension on my browser from this site https://tosdr.org interesting how it tells you the class for many sites. Your breakout room looks like it will be awesome ... I used One Note to make one of these and it was a lot of fun. Good luck Matteo https://prairieboyedumusings.weebly.com/edumusings That https://tosdr.org/ site is very interesting to see what class the social media you are using is at. I agree that it is super hard to to create that magical 5 minute video that captures what you need for the lesson taught. One thing I thought of doing but it would take some time is to put them all in ed puzzle and then you could put markers to get to the point you want need (even know who watched them). I really like your style of blog with many musings haha and rabbit holes to go down (such as your robotic club which is awesome). Keep up the great work. Michala https://mnhegi.edublogs.org/ Love the fact that is your project is creating so many important conversations. I like the positive outlook you see that social media can create. You should take a look at Jennifer Casa-Todd's work (Social Leadia). Honoured you like the image I created (used a lot of icons from the nounproject.com) Nancy https://nancysmithgrad.blogspot.com/2020/01/what-does-citizenship-look-like-in-this.htm I love this data. I might even use it in my math class on our graphing unit (think there is a great three act math play opportunity). Even though it appears (to me) that 'tweets' still dominate the news its obvious that it's not really the social media of choice. I know my main reason for using social media share and learn from others about education (I don't really go down to many rabbit holes ... occasionally watch a you tube video I might not have and check insta, linked in, and facebook once in awhile). I agree that this goes through all generations as social media use is still relatively new in many ways. Thanks for making me think. Nataly https://natalymoussa.wordpress.com/category/eci-832/ Great review of Instagram. I don't use it a lot (post pictures of sunsets and golf courses) but I know it is growing. At school we use Twitter and Instagram to share things happening and I know the kids check out way more on Instagram. The whole like counter change is interesting (can still kind of find out the numbers or at least who liked it) also interesting that Instagram is owned by Facebook. Looking forward to learning more about Instagram from you (maybe I'll expand my use on this). Sarah https://sarahjrossblog.wordpress.com/2020/02/09/digital-citizenship-blended-learning/ Great changes. They show how much you have thought about what you hope to learn and how this class has helped you build on your understanding. I'm not sure if you have heard of https://twitter.com/kathycassidy?lang=en but she might be a great resource for you. Shelby https://shelbymackey.wordpress.com/2020/02/10/ribble-green-eggs-and-common-sense I will hang on to and share the Green Eggs and Ham slide deck for sure. I know essays are still pretty important but maybe we need to look at other ways to express understanding as well like video (writing a script), blogs (like these), podcasts ... Or does an essay need to be something done 'inclass' with check points ... maybe we need to guide students better with the process. The research for your project is similar to mine to I really enjoy reading your perspectives. Thanks Trevor https://trevorkerr7.wordpress.com/category/eci832/ Like the fact you checked out a couple of sites that are used quite a bit with kiddos under 13 for sure in the classroom and bringing to light some of the terms with signing up for these. I've shared this a bit https://tosdr.org it will look through quite a few sites and let you know what class there terms are at. Thanks for the share. Victoria https://explorationsined.tech.blog/blog-feed/ I never really understood the digital native / immigrant scenario (even in my post millennium era haha) , maybe because I have kinda been there from the start and have always tried to keep my self current and looking for best practice with technology (among other education areas). I think schools need to change quite a bit and become more personal for the learner. They need to be able to learn at they pace and find out how they learn best. Also important to expose students to a multitude of opportunities to find out what they have a passion for. Some students it might take longer some shorter but we should provide opportunities to find out what they love and to love themselves and others. Teachers are even more important as we build relationships to help coach and mentor students to explore themselves and their world. Not sure the current way we do things allows for this. This posts has taken me a bit to complete for many reasons, but especially with all the things going down in our world today. I want to thank all of you for sharing your learnings. I have learned a lot from you all and appreciate the work you have put into this class. Reading these blogs increased my understanding and also produced a lot of questions as well, but more importantly inspire me to get better and know there are a lot of students and/colleagues who are fortunate to work with all of you. Adam https://adamscottwilliamsblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/05/week-8-student-passports-to-a-digital-citizenship/ Great post. 'Letting go of the reins' can be a tough thing but it looks like you also realize that you have to 'take of the tether'. There may be some rough waters on the sea, but it looks like you are creating an environment in which you are a lead learner and you are going in with eyes wide open. Look like you are establishing some strong norms ... kids used to write notes and other things back in day (which is not as public as social media) but were off task then too. Also enjoyed your comment about the digital divide and how schools need to help close the gap. Allison https://allison366296596.wordpress.com/2020/03/09/major-learning-project-discord/ I've had some experience with discord. My own two teenage boys use it. It's a big part of how they game and talk to their friends. It's quite interesting to hear them coordinate strategy and the such. They also can send files back and forth ... lots of memes but have actually seen them use it to collaborate on school work too. I have a tech club at the school and we also use discord to organize chats and share ideas. It's been interesting to be a part of this. Have a really great club and it's been a positive way for them to organize events, talk strategy with our esports, and more. I want to use MS Teams in my classroom which is kinda of similar. Thanks for sharing. Amanda https://edtechendeavours.com/2020/03/03/developing-a-thriving-digital-identity/ Great post. You are a very good writer / blogger. You may have not been taught online ethics but I bet you still had a strong exposure to just ethics which has served you well and shines through the work you share and as an online classmate. I really feel that it is more than a digital foot print and more of a digital tattoo which is more permanent. One thing that Alec has spoken to but sometimes we forget is that we must protect and be aware of attacks on our identity as well. You are great role model to colleagues and students of how one can thrive online. Keep up the good work. Brad https://northernboardem.wordpress.com/2020/03/08/teachers-role-in-digital-citizenship/ I like the fact that your post references ALL citizens ... is that of a province, a country or the world. Makes me think of the digital divide in our backyard and around the world. Guess one historical reference would be with the printing press ... reading became something ALL citizens should have access to but took awhile. How will we will achieve this goal for all. I like Daniel's video to and the points made are exactly what CRAP detection is all about. Catherine https://catherinereadyed.wordpress.com/2020/03/08/digcit-in-schools/ Great post. I think one solution would be to make this eci832 class a mandatory class for all pre-service teachers. I'm not sure a lot of teachers would investigate these topics on their own. I know I work with a lot of teachers who pay little or no attention to digital citizenship which makes me wonder if this quote will be true ... "Technology doesn’t teach, Teachers teach. But today, Teachers who don't use technology will be replaced by teachers who do." Also a shame to hear about tech given for tech sake ... one reason I love the rcsd connect program we have that is more than proving a class set of laptops. Christina https://digitalidentity.school.blog/2020/03/07/implementing-digital-citizenship-and-update-on-major-project/ I find it amazing that something so part of today's society is left to chance. It’s great that more of us are taking classes like this and promoting in the classroom. I'd say you are not fully literate unless you are digital/media literate. Common sense is a great resource. Have you talked to your pre-interns about digital citizenship ... what do they know / learned? Curtis https://curtisbourassa.wordpress.com/2020/03/09/role-of-digcit-today-and-in-the-future/ Great post. I really enjoyed breakdown the digital citizenship characteristics activity especially breaking down the youngest in our ed system the Ks. It's not to early to start planting the seeds and have positive outcomes. I found the 9 Ps very interesting and probably something I could use in my project. Is a personal brand one's digital identity. Thanks Daina https://seymoureci.wordpress.com/2020/03/11/digcit-state-of-mind/ Great post and thanks for great resources - teachincntl.org. Great benchmarks provided on what stages of growth. Loved the quote as I also feel we need to expand the concept of #digcit to include so much more especially build on the positives. Also loved the Three's Company gif - grew up watching that show - classic. Krysta https://kcappy.wordpress.com/2020/03/15/literate-today-everyday/ Appreciate and can relate a lot to your post. We share a lot of the same viewpoints on this too and one day soon I hope this entire situation will turn into a great teachable moment where people take some time to fact check and calmly assess a situation. Laurie https://digitallearning.news.blog/2020/03/09/the-role-schools-should-play-in-teaching-digital-citizenship Great post. You tied together many important points about the importance of teaching digital citizenship in schools. I'm pretty sure many unfortunately do not even know this policy guide exists let alone understand the important work that needs to be addressed in this area ... how does it become a priority? Leigh https://whentheteacherbecomesthestudent.wordpress.com/2020/03/14/march-13-2020-what-does-it-mean-to-be-media-literate/ Well developed post. You definitely understand the importance of media literacy and the factors that contribute to its development. I'd argue that media literacy is becoming a huge part of the all the other literacies and that you wouldn't be able to be fully literate in any literacy unless you understood how media literacy relates or is part of. Great tie ins to other classmates work as well. Good read. Thank you. Matt https://mattbresciani.weebly.com/eci-832/becoming-media-literate-in-todays-society#comments The beauty of this class is it really gets you to think how literacy has been impacted by media and the importance of bringing this into the classroom. It so interesting how a meme has so much impact (kind of like political cartoons back in the day) on how youth get most of their information. I'm glad you are taking the valuable time to have these important conversations with your students especially during this extraordinary time. Honoured you thought my CRAP sheet is a good resource (any suggestions welcome and please feel free to use / adapt - let me know if you want original file). Keep up the great work. Matteo https://prairieboyedumusings.weebly.com/edumusings/no-more-time-for-waffling-on-the-digcit Well done my friend. Great list of dig cit resources. I really liked your quotes. I really agree with your 'lockdown' comment. It's important that we offer opportunities to learn and practice good digital citizenship (which I strongly think is just citizenship). We do have a great dig cit document in Sask., but I'm not sure a lot of our teachers are aware of this. Great video and I am glad you and your colleague are looking for new and important opportunities for students. Melinda https://edusites.uregina.ca/demeteredtech/category/digital-citizenship-and-media-literacy/ Thanks for the share. Your post has helped me with my own project as I am exploring crap detection and lateral reading. I've done lots of interviews on this and I'm working on a lesson on this. Thanks for the list of Kumar's questions. Michala https://mnhegi.edublogs.org/2020/03/15/interview-with-jenn-sm/ I was lucky enough to interview Jenn as well. Many great points shared. Important to realize that teachers isnt the key knowledge holder and that relationships with learners have shifted. Your comment about media consent and EAL households made me stop and reflect and answer is probably no and question the moral issue around that. Nancy https://nancysmithgrad.blogspot.com/ Great break down of the 9 elements and how they relate to seniors. I'm assuming that most of seniors knowledge / training on devices and dig cit is from their children. I wonder how many have access to a training class and how many would access this training. Hate how seniors are targets of scammers both on and offline. Wonder if there is a service that would provide access to devices and wifi to seniors who are homebound. As always a great post. Thanks Nataly https://natalymoussa.wordpress.com/2020/03/10/digital-citizenship-for-university-students Great post. Totally agree with you point about university students entering high education with a wide range of fluencies with technology. Also agree with your suggestion that deep knowledge in the area of digital fluencies should be required as these skills are essential to work, training, and research in today's society. Appreciate you drawing our attention to this group that sometimes we assume get it when it comes to using tech at a deeper level. Sarah https://sarahjrossblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/18/what-does-it-mean-to-be-literate-today-what-might-be-some-different-elements-of-being-fully-literate Thanks for the share. I really enjoyed the crash course video and will have to check out the following videos in this course. So many types of media and it is interesting how messages are encoded and decoded. I have come across similar media concept lists in my research and the second question about what creative techniques is a very good one as sometimes we are 'duped' by smoke and mirrors for sure. Another good point was to also question what's not there. I have done work with my students in this area and hope to get better. Shelby https://shelbymackey.wordpress.com/2020/03/15/the-planning-is-coming-together Great work. How much time will the unit / each lesson take? Love the way you organized your unit and thanks for sharing a great resource. It's great that it will be student tested and examples shared (how do you get students permission to share... verbal consent?) Definitely will stay tuned. Trevor https://trevorkerr7.wordpress.com/2020/03/14/literacy-in-the-21st-century/ Totally agree with your comments in your post. Balance is key. I feel that if we are not promoting and championing digital literacy we are not doing our jobs helping students in the world we are currently in and in the future. Being able to adapt in this area is crucial. Without physical literacy our students will not be able to make healthy decisions that will affect them physically, mentally, and spiritually. Thanks for the post and keep doing the important work you are doing. Victoria https://explorationsined.tech.blog/2020/03/13/what-does-it-mean-to-be-literate-today/ I think you are right that there are many areas to be literate (partially or fully). That's what life long learning is so important and just like digital literacy things constantly change. I liked Trevor's blog post (just read before yours) that balance is key in these areas and that physical literacy is just as important as many of the 'established' ones. Great post. Have done a couple of posts in my eci832major project blog.
Adding them here as well: https://deanvendramin.weebly.com/eci832-major-project/eci-832-major-project-update https://deanvendramin.weebly.com/eci832-major-project/fact-or-fiction-navigating-through-a-sea-of-information
It was a great discussion last Tuesday night in our ECI832 class. The continuous evolution of society (or in some cases de-evolution - aka mullets) and the passing of the torch from one generation to the next. How does education change and adapt with all these changes both in mindset and access to technology? The questions posed for this week were:
So after our conversation, I looked at this week's suggested readings to see what correlations could me made with our conversation.
In the 2017 K12 Horizon Report , I was reading through the top 10 high lights of the big picture theme and one jumped out at me based on our conversation.
" Real-world skills are needed to bolster employability and workplace development. Students expect to graduate into gainful employment. Institutions have a responsibility to deliver deeper, active learning experiences and skills-based training that integrate technology in meaningful ways." From our conversation, I would not say that these types of learning experiences are being integrated (and this report is from three years ago). I don't necessarily blame teachers for this (although some will be 'old school' four life and there are some that are trying to make this happen), As long as stakeholder such as universities, governments, parents, and other institutions put an emphasis on grades and 'covering' the curriculum, I'm not sure if these opportunities will become the norm rather than the exception.
In the 2020 Future Work Skills report, found skills number 3 was something that stood out to me.
"3 Novel & Adaptive thinking - Definition: proficiency at thinking and coming up with solutions and responses beyond that which is rote or rule-based." My son basically summed up how he has been trained and knows how to be proficient at rote and rule-based thinking but rarely challenged beyond that. So what sort of world are we preparing our students for?
In the article 9 Things that Will Shape the Future of Education, the quote below caught my attention.
"Exams will change completely. As courseware platforms will assess students capabilities at each step, measuring their competencies through Q&A might become irrelevant, or might not suffice. Many argue that exams are now designed in such a way, that students cram their materials, and forget the next day. Educators worry that exams might not validly measure what students should be capable of when they enter their first job. As the factual knowledge of a student can be measured during their learning process, the application of their knowledge is best tested when they work on projects in the field." I haven't seen a lot of progress in this area and neither has my son. I looked at the date of when the article was written (2016). So there's still 16 years for this to come to fruition, but the pace education currently ticks at doesn't give me a lot of hope. That doesn't mean I'll stop trying to change the current narrative on this, as I hope that exams will take the shape of what is mentioned above.
In the TED Talk article What is the Future of Education?, this point stood out to me.
So long as there is a workplace… there will be schools. “The K-12 experience for students also provides societal infrastructure that allows for a working class. By 2050, the ‘World of Work’ will have little resemblance to what it is today. We should hope this to be the case for schools as well. If we begin by helping children to identify their strengths, interests and values — and then dedicate time in school to cultivating them towards exploring where each child’s unique place in the world might be — I think we’ll be on the right path regardless of what new technologies or advances in learning become available. — David Miyashiro, Superintendent, Cajon Valley Union School District, California, United States" I think schools will always exist in some shape or form. Even our conversation, my son pointed out a lot of soft skills that are important part of what he has learned in school (for me this is more important that grades - but I'm glad his grades are good to as the current system still places a lot of value on these and both of us know and mention this).
In the report What are the New Skills ,I thought that this was something that we need to focus in on more.
"Play— the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving." School should embrace play as there are so many positive that come out especially problem-solving. I think one reason that my son eludes to Computer Science being on of the classes he gets the most out of because coding gives you a chance to play, make mistakes, and create something that you envisioned. Hello ECI832 crew. My name is Dean Vendramin. I'm very excited about continuing my Master's Certificate journey this semester. The topics of digital citizenship and media literacy are very important to me and have been areas I have researched and continue to explore in my personal and professional life. I have enjoyed reading the blog introductions of my fellow classmates. Excited to once again learn along side Brad R Catherine R Curtis B Daniel D Matteo D Nancy S Nataly M Shelby M , fellow RCSD Connected Educators Matt B Rob G Sarah R Trevor K and new classmates Adam W Christina P Daina S Leigh T Luyan X Victoria P to name a few. So many great perspectives and experiences coming together with to create a positive community of learning / learners. The way the class is set up I find to be more engaging and empowering than of a more traditional class. I appreciate they way Alec organizes these classes. They are engaging, flexible, and learner centered. I also find these classes to be more 'work' than a traditional class but it doesn't really seem like work to me if that makes sense. To learn more about check out my ePortfolio and other resources I have on this site or check out my Twitter account @vendi55 Look forward to connecting and having another great learning experience. |
AuthorDean Vendramin. Educator for over 20 years. Currently Education Leader for Math/Science at Archbishop M.C. O'Neill Catholic High School. Have a passion for all things in education with emphasis on technology integration, assessment, professional development, and 21 Century Education. Posts are articles he has written for the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation monthly newsletter The Bulletin, Saskatchewan Math Teachers' Society The Variable, blog requests from memberships he is a part of, and his own thoughts. Archives
April 2020
Categories |