STSD Curriculum & Technology Update

Regular updates and musings on curriculum and technology in the Salisbury Township School District in Allentown, PA.

Educators and Social Networking Sites

As more an more educators use social networking sites like Facebook, what should we really understand about the best way to take advantage of what they can offer us? An entry in Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog offers some ideas.

Guidelines for Educators Using Social Networking Sites

Creativity and “The Element”

Sir Ken Robinson has recently published a book on the merging of talent and passion - finding “the element.” In this video, he speaks about the ideas in the book.

The English newspaper, The Guardian, interviewed Robinson - Fertile Minds Need Feeding. The article includes some thoughts from people who take issue with Robinson’s thinking.

You might remember listening to his talk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?”

Last month, Robinson posted a blog, “Transform education? Yes, we must.”

The paragraph that struck me: I’m always struck by how many adults have no idea what their real talents are, or whether they have any at all. Many people just do what they do with no particular passion or commitment to it. I know others who genuinely love what they do; who would probably do it for free if they had to, and can’t imagine doing anything else. Understanding what makes the difference is essential for transforming education, business, and communities to meet the real challenges of the twenty-first century.

It looks like Robinson will be blogging some more. Stay tuned.

Collaboration

Psychology Today published an article, “Dream Teams,” explaining one of the benefits of collaboration.

“A signature benefit of collaboration is that it enables each person to be more daring, because the risk is spread out between them. Two people can challenge the prevailing wisdom in their field more comfortably than a solo operator.”

21st Century Skills & New Media Literacies

As with anything worth doing there are always resistors and critics. In Monday’s Washington Post, education reporter Jay Matthews titled his column The Latest Doomed Pedagogical Fad: 21st-Century Skills. In his column, Matthews contends that there is nothing new about 21st century skills. “Young Plato and his classmates did the same thing in ancient Greece.” There is a typical flaw in Matthew’s thinking - understanding how age-old skills look different in the technology-rich world of 2009. What is different then? Take two minutes to watch this video, and I think you’ll start to see how technology changes, in both bold and subtle ways, the rules of the game where “skills” are concerned.

For a detailed response to Matthew’s column, read Will Richardson: Response to Jay Matthew at the Washington Post

What if…

Will Richardson asks, “What if classrooms felt like this?” Will is going to be moderating a conversation at EduCon 2.1, January 23-25. The subject of the conversation - What will classroom learning look like?

LINK to photo