After reading about the overall importance of Web 2.0 I pretty much agree with all of the authors points/ideas. It is a great tool for publishing, it really helps with differentiation, but it also creates headaches. Because of the integration of technology we have to consider whether students are failing a particular activity because they lack the technological knowledge or because they don’t understand the content. While I have not had this experience personally, I know as a science teacher we deal with this in the disciplines of reading and math. When students lack the necessary reading and/or math skills, it can get in the way of science.
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills does a nice job of laying out expectations, but I imagine that this will be out-of-date within a few years.
The article, It’s a Flat World, After All is a thoughtful perspective on where the world is headed. The playing field is definitely leveling out. You no longer need to be college-educated, a developed country, or rich to provide the world with a service. For our students and for teachers this is going to prove quite a challenge. As long as I have been teaching we preach to the students that college is the way to move up in the world, well it’s not necessarily true. So how do we as school systems approach this new pathway? Also how can we afford to meet the technological needs of these students to prepare them for after graduation?
In Minnesota science is not tested for graduation but I feel that I also teach bioloigy in terms of breadth and not depth. Your idea of teaching/testing environmental science is a good one. This should be the focus especially with climate change and other environmental issues that are occuring in virtually every community on the planet.
ReplyDeletePS I like your bug picture:)
I think that most school systems teach in terms of breadth and not depth. As a result students come away with small tidbits of information that they fail to connect to real life situations. Additionally, teachers, and thus students, become so focused on learning the content that they fall short in learning how to problem solve and how to investigate.
ReplyDeletePS - I also love your praying mantis!!
I'm glad you brought up the new standards. When the framework is released this summer, we can discuss it as a class -- I'm looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteI want to comment on your first paragraph where you address the issue of when students are struggling, are they struggling with the content or the technology? I think that teachers must integrate the use of technology in the classroom, but students may also need a class devoted to the subject in order for them to keep up as well. There is no reason for students to fall behind in content because they struggle with using the technology. Also, I don't know about other teachers, but how many times this year did you plan a lesson that relied on using online resources, only to have the school internet down for the day? We may be required to teach to technology standards, but until the glitches are worked out and all students have equal access to the internet, it may be more difficult than some anticipate.
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