Ways to manage your classroom for 21st Century Learning, the “Law of 3’s”

21edu — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:58:20 +0000

The “Law of 3’s” is a method I have come up with to use when I am developing course work that incorporates technology. It is held on the belief that technology is something you need to practice to master. I start with a rubric of just skills that I feel are important for mastering the technology. Students can create anything they want as long as they use the skills. Next, I move into introduction of core content that I want them to learn, this is the research step where they use technology to get the information and organize the information, and finally they use the technology to create a product with what they just learned.

All students, adult and youth learners need to process the technology in order to create meaningful learning, they need to learn the skills of the application and practice the skills.

A look at Teaching 21st Century Learners

21edu — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:12:36 +0000

A great video from Partnership for “21st Century Skills: Teaching 21st Century Learners” that talks about where teaching is headed and the support systems to make it possible.

It makes me think about how teaching was delivered in 1890′s 1 room classroom and how it could look like a 21st Century classroom, without the technology and access to information. Students would be at all different levels and ages, learning would individualized, students would ask teacher and students questions and would collaborate. A good teacher would develop activities to keep the class from getting bored. That changed in the 1950′s, with the ”sage on stage” model. We need to move towards the ”guide on the side” approach to increase 21st Century skills. Pre-service teachers and current teachers need to learn the technology tools that allow access to information including assessments to create that 1 room classroom again.

What a great way to spend money on 21st Century skills!!!

21edu — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:08:28 +0000

What a great way to spend money on 21st Century skills!!!
Adams 14, in Colorado, got $185,805 in 2009 to work on a project called the Global Learner Project. This is a blog that lets k-12 teachers communicate and collaborate on technology issues and deliver 21st Century skills. The project in itself is an excellent example of 21st Century skills in action. The goals of the project are to increase teacher learning in the use of technology as a tool and student engagement in learning. Go to the link to check it out: http://principianteglobal.blogspot.com/2010/01/csap-prep-as-collaborative-project.html

The blog provides access to resources, ideas, and encouragement for teachers. This is a great resource and should be spread to all teachers in Colorado once out of the beta stage.

Congratulations to Adams 14 for taking the lead in creating a great resource for pre-service and current teachers!

What can the iPad do for education?

21edu — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:51:08 +0000

At 499.00-$890.00, per unit the iPad might seem like an expensive educational tool, but it is really the next big movement in educational technology next to Smart Boards. The iPad brings huge possibilities to K-12 education and 21^st Century skills. Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal gives an excellent summary of its usability and functions at http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20100331/apple-ipad-review/

Just picture this… the students come into the classroom and grab their iPad to start their daily reading assignments. All of the topics or themes of the reading is the same, skill levels are matched with ability, and students are learning at challenging material. Students take polls and individual questions are addressed based on skills that need to be mastered. There is really no need to have books available since all students will receive reading materials over the iPad. Students get their assignments over email and communicate with each other through the classroom social network and blog, and complete/submit over the iPad. Individual student work can be displayed over the Smart Board. During teacher planning time teachers download student’s assignments, assess evaluations, track and develop/change the units based on feedback and assessment. The iPad technology would create a new way to manage K-12 classrooms and allows teachers more time with students working on the activities. The classroom becomes almost paperless.

Okay, I am getting way ahead of myself, the educational book publishers would need to be on board, a student testing and tracking application would need to be developed, school districts and administrators would need to be technology progressive, teachers would need to be retrained, the communication system between the smart board and iPad would need to developed, and the iPad would need to support Adobe applications.

I welcome the arrival of iPad to the world of new technology device; this tool will only enhance 21^st Century learning.

Why would I use That??!!

21edu — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:06:59 +0000

A few days ago, I was talking to my son, about why he got a 2 (needs work) in use of library resources. He said to me, “I was just going to Google to get my resources, and not going through Loin to Britannica Elementary”. He continued, “Like when would I login to something to get information.” My son just hit on an important concept in 21^st Century skills, where the context of learning must be in line with real world based applications, including the tools that you use to access the information. When I asked his friends about getting information through a Loin login and then to Britannica Elementary, they said “it is lame!”.

These 4^th graders in my urban neighborhood are pretty savvy about searching the internet, they are on Google, Y-Tube, downloads, ask.com, etc… and have a pretty good idea how to search for information. They are currently using tools and applications that are more advanced than what they are using for standards in their school and school district. District standards need to come up to date with the technology. Students need real world applications, including the tools they use, to develop meaningful learning.

Next time when I see a 2 on my son’s report card for use of library resources, I will realize that he is really at a 4 (advanced), and he is developing and acquiring 21st Century skills on his own.

The technology tool of the 21st Century is…………………………….. The manual typewriter!

21edu — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:04:24 +0000

Yes, I know you think I am crazy, with all the great tools for communicating that are mobile, wireless, and on demand, how can I say the manual typewriter is the most important tool for 21^st Century learning? Well, I need to make myself clear, its really the keyboard that you use to operate the typewriter, that makes it the number one skill for the 21^st Century.

Unless we live in a box by ourselves, voice activated sound applications/software will never become mainstream. It is a great special education tool or a tool for getting ideas down quickly, but as a tool for everyday communications, it would be impossible. We would all be just listening to ourselves and other talk. As technology changes and advances, we will still be using the keyboard to communicate the majority of our ideas. The QWERTY keyboard is here to stay; it is like the ABC’s of modern communications.

So if you are an early childhood educator, a plain old manual typewriter will expose your students to the first steps in learning a how to master 21^st Century technology and skills!