STSD Curriculum & Technology Update

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

Educational Change

I had blogged about this about a year ago on my own blog, but thought it worthwhile sharing here...

Renate Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine present some significant ideas about why and how our educational system thinking must change. In their article Understanding Why Education Must Change, the authors assert correctly that our students will be working in an era of communication, not in factories as was the case in the past. Our present system of education is based on a series of assumptions:

1. Only experts create knowledge.
2. Teachers deliver knowledge in the form of information.
3. Children are graded on how much of the information they have stored.

Our future system will need to be based on a new series of assumptions:

1. Dynamic knowledge ( the sort of knowledge that is naturally and spontaneously invoked in authentic interactions in the the real world) requires individual meaning making based upon multiple sources of information.
2. The role of educators is to facilitate the making of dynamic knowledge.
3. Dynamic knowledge is revealed through real world performance.

In regards to technology:

Also, if we consider what technology in the information era makes available to children and students, we find that trying to control knowledge the way we are used to is beginning to look like holding water in our hands. Information is available everywhere and in multiple forms, from complex software to 500 television channels to the world wide web. Not all children have access to every one of these, but not having access is already handicapping children now in school and will continue to do severe damage to their futures as the school years progress. This massive flow and availability of information, together with our new appreciation of just how interconnected the human brain is, will be for education to become much more complex. And that is precisely what is needed if we are to teach for dynamic rather than surface knowledge.

Internet Safety

One component of our technology plan should address how we will deal with the issue of Internet safety. Increased use of the Internet can create some problems that we need to be proactive about. The document linked below can give you some background on Internet safety and how parents can handle it. How much of an issue is Internet safety in Salisbury?

Internet Safety Tips

Engagement=Control

From the Ed Tech Journeys blog, you can read how an online program called Line Rider can show us that when we (and that includes students) are engaged, it’s about control. Try the program and you’ll see why. (A great program for problem solving!)

My favorite part of the post—a quote from Gary Stager: “Less us, more them.”

Authentic Learning

This was said over six years ago: “With the growing informational and human resources on the Internet, a student, with access, can find a wide range of materials on almost any topic. If students have more latitude, in both the topic and resources selected, it is more likely that they will be able to create original knowledge products. More important than choice is an audience that is interested in the outcome of their research, development, or insights. Research has demonstrated that authentic tasks with real audiences have resulted in increased learning, stronger writing, and longer retention of learning and even increased performance on standardized tests of writing. But more than test score results, students engaged in building knowledge products for others develop a sense of purpose and value. They contribute to their community.” (from a white paper for the US DOE Secretary’s Conference on Educational Technology - 2000 - Margaret Riel)

And here is a very powerful film (produced by some college students) that reflects this kind of thinking: Digital Students @ Analog Schools

Talk about it in the discussion forum....

21st Century Skills

What does this actually mean? The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, an education research organization formerly funded by the federal government until 2005, has put some ideas together at the enGuage21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age site.