Regular updates and musings on curriculum and technology in the Salisbury Township School District in Allentown, PA.
Learning to Change - Changing to Learn
There seems to be a new piece of media available on the internet pertaining to 21st century learning every week. Here is one that I most recently found. There are a number of well-known educational voices here sharing their thoughts around new ideas of teaching and learning. What do you think?
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Toward A Definition of 21st Century Literacies
On February 15, the Executive Council of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) adopted a statement titled, “Toward A Definition of 21st Century Literacies.” This professional organization has begun to articulate the shift that needs to occur in education if we are to teach literacies relevant in the real world. The connection between reading, writing, technology, social networking, collaborative problem solving, multitasking, information evaluation and ethics is addressed.
TOWARD A DEFINITION OF 21st-CENTURY LITERACIES
Adopted by the NCTE Executive Committee
February 15, 2008Literacy has always been a collection of cultural and communicative practices shared among members of particular groups. As society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the twenty-first century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies. These literacies—from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms—are multiple, dynamic, and malleable. As in the past, they are inextricably linked with particular histories, life possibilities and social trajectories of individuals and groups. Twenty-first century readers and writers need to
- Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
- Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
- Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
- Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
- Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts
- Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments
How will we carry these ideas into the classroom? What will an expanded view of literacy look like? What will be different? What are we already doing?
I believe the educational system must embrace changes that are bringing about the need for a new definition of literacy beyond simply reading and writing. These will always be important, but for the future viability of our students in a flat world with far fewer boundaries, a shift is necessary.
It is difficult to predict the future, but from examining past and current trends, futurists try to paint a picture of what we might expect. Futurist Ray Hammond in his book, The World in 2030, says this:
The speed of technological development is accelerating exponentially and, for this reason, by the year 2030 it will seem as if a whole century’s worth of progress has taken place in the first three decades of the 21st century.
Most of the world’s futurists, futurologists and computer scientists agree that at some point between 2030 and 2040 a milestone in technological development will be reached that will cause a rupture, a complete disjoint, in human evolution. Around this time we will build the first computer that is the intellectual equal of a human. Because of the accelerating, exponential nature of technological development (fueled entirely by faster and richer information flows) it follows that a short time after that we will be assisted by our super-intelligent computers to build a machine twice as clever as the most capable human. Shortly after will appear a machine four times as clever as a human, then eight times as clever, then sixteen times as clever, and so on.
A few things are certain: the speed of change (technological and otherwise) will continue to increase; and we can barely begin to imagine what the future will be like, but it will likely be significantly different than the world we live in. How can we prepare our students for this uncertain world? Think about it: in 2030, our current students (K-12) will be between the ages of 27 and 50. Will they have the skills necessary to navigate the world? Will those skills be sufficient to adapt to new literacies they will encounter in the future? Will their literacies be sufficient to grapple with and solve the problems of the planet?
Links: Toward A Definition of 21st Century Literacies; The World in 2030.
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Doodle 4 Google
Google is running a contest called Doodle 4 Google. Students can submit a Google Doodle for the chance to win prizes for themselves and their school as well as the chance for their doodle to appear on the Google site.
The Doodle 4 Google competition, offers young artists the chance to play around with the Google logo and perhaps have their artwork seen by people all over the world.
The theme for the doodling competition is “What if...?”
- What if...I could live underwater, or in outer space, or in Colonial America?
- What if...I could see into the future?
- What if...I could build any kind of invention I wanted?
Google will display 40 finalist doodles on their site and invite the public to vote for their favorites. The winning doodler will receive a $10,000 college scholarship and their design will take over the Google homepage for a day (the winning school will also receive a $25,000 technology grant).
Want to get in on the fun? You’ll find everything you need. including detailed lesson plans, at www.google.com/doodle4google Registration closes on March 28th.
First Quarter Update
In this the first year of implementation for our district’s Technology & Learning Implementation Plan, we have taken some big steps toward achieving the goals as outlined in the plan. The purpose of this update is to share with you the district’s progress toward the goals of access, effective teaching and learning, professional development, information literacy and assessment/evaluation. What progress has been made?
- *District-wide wireless access
- *Six Smart Classrooms operating in elementary and middle schools
- *Classrooms for the Future Grant Implementation at the high school
- *LifeSmarts’ Beginnings at the high school
- *Videoconferencing
- *Information literacy discussion
This past summer, our five district buildings were outfitted with wireless network access. This was a significant step forward, laying the foundation for future progress toward our goal of access. By providing the entire district with wireless network access, flexibility of future plan implementation has been ensured. Limited network access is no longer an issue.
In conjunction with this upgrade to the network, we have been able to implement six “smart classrooms” throughout the elementary and middle levels. A “smart classroom” consists of five laptop computers, an interactive whiteboard and a multimedia projector. Three learning support classrooms (two 5th grade; one 6th grade) and three 6th grade classrooms have been outfitted with this technology. Simply providing access will not bring about necessary changes in the learning environment. With this in mind, the cohort of teachers has been meeting monthly to develop ideas surrounding change in their classrooms, share strategies and develop technology skills. These professional development opportunities will continue throughout the year. Participating teachers include Diane Kasaczun, Teri Bruns, Megan Pruner, David Beyer, Cathy Yurconic and Lynn Fuini-Hetten. Click here to view a video about the Smart Classrooms initiative.
In August, it was announced that the high school was the recipient of a state-funded Classrooms for the Future (CFF) grant in the amount of $166,000. The carefully crafted proposal, the result of some impressive collaboration between professional staff members, focused on developing connections between core content area subjects. The grant funding has provided the high school with 96 Macintosh student laptop computers, 19 Macintosh teacher laptop computers, 9 interactive whiteboards, 9 multimedia projectors, 5 digital video cameras, 3 digital cameras, and a new file server. Professional development is a significant piece of the grant’s implementation. Michele Honochick, high school library/media specialist, will be serving as the CFF Coach. Her primary responsibility will be to support the CFF teachers in their implementation of technology-rich, cross-curricular lessons in the content areas. In addition to receiving this professional support, participating teachers will complete 30 hours of professional development focused on changing the classroom learning environment for the 21st century learner. At this time, all equipment has been delivered and installation is expected to be completed prior to the December holiday break. Teachers and administrators are very excited about the possibilities brought by this increased access. Contingent upon state funding, additional resources will be available for the 2008-09 school year. Thank you to the following for their successful grant writing efforts! Cathie Meholic, RJ Stangherlin, Amy Reinert, Mary Agnew, Marge McGinty, Rick Marsico, Michele Honochick, Tom Smith, Chris Smith, Heather Morningstar, Louise Beauchemin and Randy Ziegenfuss.
The beginning of the school year brought a new integrated course to the high school – LifeSmarts. Bringing together content in Family & Consumer Science, Technology and Business, this course emphasizes real world applications supported by technology integration. Early activities enhanced the social aspects of learning with students participating in team building exercises supported by social uses of technology. Students have access to a mobile cart of 30 laptops, open-source software applications supporting activities such as concept mapping and podcasting, as well as student email access (through gaggle.net). The LifeSmarts teaching staff is comprised of Michele Cotugno, Frank Lane, and new Family & Consumer Science teacher, Holly Borthwick.
In October, several teachers participated in videoconferencing professional development from MAGPI through the University of Pennsylvania. The session, “Best Practices and Virtual Field Trips” provided our teachers with resources to find free and low-cost virtual field trips. Future professional development being offered by MAGPI includes, “Planning Interactive Videoconference Collaborations,” “Virtual Reality, Simulations and Gaming in Education,” as well as “Introduction to MAGPI.” Teachers who took advantage of this opportunity are planning on future uses of videoconference technology in Salisbury. Our students have or will be participating in these videoconferences: Virtual Knee Replacement Surgery; An Inconvenient Truth; Speak Out; Culture Clash; Titanic: Fortune and Fate; and Digital Film, Youth & Violence. Salisbury certainly has become a power user of videoconferencing technology!
Increased and improved access requires our students and staff to acquire new literacy skills. Librarians and administrators have begun discussions pertaining to information literacy, internet safety and computer ethics. You can visit the discussion board online. The work of this group will become increasingly more important as we continue to implement our plan.
As you can see from this summary, the district has made significant progress in several goal areas in a short period of time. Thank you to everyone, teacher and administrator, who has embraced the shift brought about by these developments. This is only the beginning. The plan outlines a vision, mission and beliefs that will not be achieved overnight. It is important for all of us to understand that this is a process that will take time. While we will continue to set high expectations for growth, we must also be mindful that shift is sometimes messy and unpredictable. Using the plan as a compass for the future, Salisbury is well on the way to transforming the teaching and learning environment for our students.
The complete Technology & Learning Implementation Plan can be accessed online.
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Megaconference Jr. Call for Proposals
See the information below if you are interested in submitting a proposal.
WHAT IS MEGACONFERENCE JR.?
Megaconference Jr., now in its fifth year, is a project designed to give students in elementary and secondary schools around the world the opportunity to communicate, collaborate and contribute to each other’s learning in real time, using advanced multi-point video conferencing technology. Presenters design and conduct videoconference-based presentations and activities focused on both academic and cultural issues. Participants are able to address questions to presenters and to collaborate with geographically diverse peers in collaborative learning activities, thus building international cultural awareness.
HOW IS THIS YEAR DIFFERENT?
As we celebrate our fifth anniversary we would like to thank everyone for making this such a successful event. We have exceeded all of our initial goals and objectives. We have made connections, built collaborations and begun to understand our cultural differences and similarities. With our new understandings we hope to continue to build respect for our differences and a willingness to work together to find answers and solutions to the questions of our times. We encourage you to look at your community, region or nation and identify issues that not only affect you but others around the world. As global citizens, can we begin talking and working together to make positive changes in the world? As you begin planning your presentations and proposals for this year you might want to think of these ideas and how we can make this 5 Year Anniversary Megaconference Jr. event even better by further addressing these global questions and concerns that face us all. Of course, we always welcome presentations dealing with cultural exchanges, music/art/video exchanges and projects or innovative classroom practices.
WHEN IS IT GOING TO BE?
The event will be on February 21, 2008, and it will run from 7:00 am until 7:00 pm EST (UTC-5). The 12-hour duration will make it possible for schools from many time zones to participate during their regular school hours. We strongly encourage schools to open up participation to parents, administrators, and the community and to stay connected for as long as possible so that they can actively participate with sites from around the world in different time-zones. Museums and libraries are especially encouraged to invite children, library patrons, and the community at large to participate during non-school hours.
HOW CAN I CONTRIBUTE?
You can propose a 20-25 min. interactive presentation or showcase an interesting collaboration project that you have been doing in your school. You can also suggest activities that could be organized at “downtimes” between the blocks of presentations. You can also sign up as an “Interactive” site once the final schedule is posted. Or, you can join us as participants with no special presentation given from your site.
WHO CAN BE A PRESENTER?
Students, students, and more students (with a little help from their teachers and tech folks, of course) can be presenters. Presentations with multiple sites (of students!) are strongly encouraged.
HOW DO I SUBMIT A PROPOSAL?
The proposal submission process has been streamlined again this year to ensure a successful conference for all. Anyone who wishes to submit a proposal can register as a presenter for Megaconference Jr. 2008 at
http://www.megaconferencejr.org/?id=registration
HOW WILL PROPOSALS BE EVALUATED?
Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:
- Title: The title is catchy and unique and related to the objective of the presentation.
- Presentation is Related to Theme: Student presentations should focus on academic or cultural issues and incorporate global awareness and collaboration.
- Collaboration/Interactivity: The ideal presentation should include collaboration with students in another geographic location. If your project includes another site please identify that in the “Overview” section of the proposal submission form.
- Creativity/Uniqueness: The presentation is delivered in a creative way and presents a different or unique topic.
- Multimedia: Without distracting from the proposal objectives, the students use a variety of media resources and appropriate distance learning activities.
HOW TO REGISTER AND SUBMIT A PROPOSAL:
Presenter registration and subsequent proposal submission should be completed online at:
http://megaconferencejr.org/?id=registration
DEADLINE:
Submit your presenter proposal(s) by November 9, 2007.
(If you are unable to submit by this date due to special circumstances such as extended holiday break, please let us know and we will do everything possible to accommodate your schedule.)
Check out the Megaconference Jr. 2008 website at
http://megaconferencejr.org
And, join the online discussion on the Megaconference Jr. blog at
http://megaconferencejr.blogspot.com/