Preparing for 21st Century Skills

The challenges that will inhibit the development of 21st century literacies are numerous. The most impactful, however, are the acceptance of educators throughout a building... which would help to foster consistency and ensuring that the students are safe while working online.

Most buildings, I would guess, have a great number of teachers advising against using sites like Wikipedia and other collaborative networks for research; while others in the building see the power of making children responsible for finding (or bringing) information, choosing what is trustworthy, and citing their sources. This lack of consistency is due to the ignorance of some educators; for, they simply have not taken the time to experiment and see the power and necessity of the web.

The safety issue would also contribute to some educators staying away from the web. Safety should be a concern; and it is for this reason that it is important to teach today's students (and teachers) how to use the tools at their disposal effectively and not to abstain while at school... only to use them loosely while at home. Children need to know how to choose appropriate content, how to set up security options that protect their identity, and what "not" to put online (such as inappropriate pictures and video... and oftentimes their full names, where they live, and "what they are doing on Friday" for example).

The new literacies are of extreme importance. It is said that we are currently (at the middle school level) responsible for preparing children with the skills for jobs that don't yet exist. Seventy percent of the jobs that our students may be employed in don't exist today. So we must teach children to communicate, collaborate, and most importantly... to identify and solve problems. In order to do these things, we as educators, must use all of the tools at our disposal. We cannot limit ourselves to books, with copyright dates that are two years old... or even articles from magazines that were produced months earlier. We must teach them to use all of the information at their disposal.

Books, magazines, the web, blogs, forums, video conferencing, skype, etc. These are the tools of the future, all of which will be necessary for one to make contributions to the world that is coming our way... and more importantly, the world that our students will face in the coming years. We must adapt, otherwise we will be doing a grave disservice to the children with whom we work.

Podcasting... Audio and Video

The possibilities of podcasting are endless, as are the connections to all types of curriculum. Children enjoy both creating and listening to podcasts... and just think how cool it would be if they learned something too!

Incorporating video (or pictures) into the podcasts adds a whole new dimension to the learning and collaboration that occurs on the web. While I was "hunting" for interesting content, I was much more interested in the podcasts that were accompanied by visual information.

In my classroom, I use podcasts (not really podcasts... we'll talk in class) to allow the children to "deconstruct" on what they do each day as they work on a project. This deconstruction is simply documentation of progress, allowing a sense of responsibility to be realized. Additionally, by adding the podcasts to their blogs, they can be tracked daily to see where they are, where they have been, and how close they are to realizing their ultimate goal.

Podcasting, as a means of communicating progress fits into a number of NETS standards, including the students' standards below.

2. Communication and Collaboration

• b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.

6. Technology Operations and Concepts

• a. understand and use technology systems.

• b. select and use applications effectively and productively.

Classroom Activity... Awesome

This is an example of an activity that we can do in the classroom. It will connect any subject with digital imaging. It brings a whole new meaning to the phrase... a picture tells a thousand words.

Photo sharing sites are amazing. Whatever is needed can be found, and their are photos and artwork created by artists from around the globe.

Flickr is a great resource for research or for simply getting ideas, like the photo-biography on the right.

This activity meets (or could meet) several NETS standards. The most important, however, are:

1. Creativity and Innovation

• a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
• b. create original works as a means of personal of group expression.

This could be a great introductory activity, that could be posted for curriculum/parent night.  A class set, printed off poster size (or anything bigger than 8.5 x 11) would be amazing... walking down the hallway (or in the room) and learning a little about each of the children.

Obviously, historical figures would also make sense for such an activity.  Children would truly be drawn to the posters and could not help but learn something from the imbedded text.

Blake's first Bikeride

This was Blake's first bike ride. He was pretty excited to wear his yellow helmet. We went about five miles and got up to a little over 20 mph.

I created the collage in Photoshop... During the summer, I try to send Sonya (my wife) a picture of Blake everyday while she is at work.

Blogs can simply be a way to share... Students sometimes need a reminder that we are human.

Social Bookmarking

We all value our own opinions; however, when someone else can substantiate something that we think is valuable... well, that makes our opinions even better. When I look through my "bookmarks," I place a great value on those that others have similarly tagged. Not only is this important for me; but, it is invaluable for the students with whom I work. They may find a source that they think is great... If others agree by also tagging it with the same words, then they can feel a little more confident that the information is "useful." At the same time, if they are using a source that no one else uses... or that others have tagged in a negative way (in respect to the legitimacy of the information), then they may conclude that the source is not so great.

Students must be able to make decisions as to the value of their resources. They can not always rely on a teacher or parent (we may not know either). On the other hand, if they can get the "opinions" of thousands of others, they may be able to come to a conclusion on the source's credibility.

Teaching students to use social bookmarking for research, or simply for pleasure, meets a variety of the NETS standards (the majority of Standards 2 and 3); however, we cannot overlook the fact that adding these tools to their repertoires, we are helping them to apply techniques that they already use in new ways (Standard 6-d), helping them to grasp new technology systems (Standard 6-a), and truly assisting in their transitions to becoming lifelong learners (Standard 5-c).

RSS feed that Rocks

The goal of technology is to make life more efficient... I would like to say easier; but, that would not necessarily be the truth.  It seems that the more time we free up, the more we attempt to accomplish.

RSS feeds (Real Simple Syndication) allow us to sit back and let the information come to our aggregator or inbox (email).  Start saving money, go green and cancel those magazine subscriptions now.

Discovery's "Tech" feed is amazing, it pulls all of the latest information in respect to technology into one place. I can sit back and be the couch potato consumer... no need to go looking for information when it comes to me (if only everything in life was like that).  Go and find it!

Setting up the reader was overwhelming at first; but, as I started to use it and eliminated the "subscriptions" that were coming to my email inbox, I felt a sense of empowerment. I am saving time and reading more... efficiency is cool!

In the classroom, RSS allows for my students to more efficiently find information and to do so from sites that they (and educators) feel are valid and trustworthy. It is something that we will use everyday (to check), and extensively at least one day each week while finding a technology to share with the class.  RSS feeds cut down on research time and shows the students how to be more efficient; thus, giving them more time to read, analyze, and choose the information that is most important.

Using RSS feeds meets a number of NETS standards, the first to come to mind is:

(3) Research and Information Fluency

• b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.

RSS will have a dramatic impact on your teaching.

Blogs, Blogs, lots of Blogs

There is a blog about pretty much everything... from apples (both fruit and computers) to zucchini (both the vegetable and the band). Some are good, some are bad (of course that is a matter of opinion... the power of the web allows me to have one on just about any subject).

Blogs are great in the classroom.  In my class, for example, the students are required to "show" what they have accomplished during the course of their projects (group projects with individual blogs... and grades).  The blog allows them to document what they have done and, at the same time, share it with others.  This also creates a sort of "peer" or "parent-pressure," where they know that someone else... a friend or guardian can see what they have or have not done.

The greatest challenge in using blogs is the safety. When parents send their children to school, they feel that they are sending them to a safe environment, and that nothing in the education process will jeopardize that sense of safety.

I use blogging to allow the students to communicate what they have created, produced, or built. Each day, at the end of class, they have the opportunity to document what they accomplished... and add pictures, video, or audio of where they are in the process. This will allow others, in our class or school, to offer feedback and to ask questions about the intended goal and the likelihood that it will be attained.

Go to blogger.com and create your blog now!

Such communication meets a variety of NETS standards, including the following:

1. Creativity and Innovation

• b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.

2. Communication and Collaboration

• a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.

3. Research and Information Fluency

• c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness of specific tasks.

Many others apply due to the nature of the constructivist projects, partnership based projects that are developed in my classroom.  What activities are you doing that "hit" the NETS standards (and which do they meet).

Then and Now... Technology Evolution

Using the newspapers provided, identify a technology that you think has had an impact on the world.

• Tell us what technology you chose (maybe even include why).
• Describe the ways (3) in which it has impacted society.
• List some historical data (who invented it, when was it invented, etc.).

Using your noggin (that's you head), identify a technology that has replaced the one you chose from the newspaper - or - discuss how your chosen technology has evolved.

• Tell us what technology you chose (maybe even include why).
• Describe the ways (3) in which it has impacted society.
• List some historical data (who invented it, when was it invented, etc.).

Lastly, compare and contrast the two technologies.

Later, you will choose another way to communicate this information via technology... such as a video, graphic design, or song.