Is the internet affecting the way we think?

While watching the video by PBS on the affects of using multiple devices on our children, URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/ , it really struck me how much our younger generation has changed the way they live.  I thought it was annoying when my daughters were constantly texting their friends while sitting with the family or even having a conversation with me, but this video showed that this is a phenomenon across the world.  The students in the video have multiple devices open at one time at all hours of the day, including class time.  I understand that this is the new culture and as teachers we have to use the same devices to engage the students, but as shown in the chapter two discussions on the Brain, using a larger portion of the brain may not necessarily be good.  Just like the body strains and breathing is heavy when one starts an exercise routine, but as the body builds endurance and strength the same routine does not strain the breathing as much.  The body becomes stronger and breathing is more efficient if one is persistent in making exercise a routine.  The same way scientists are finding that multitasking brains have memories that are disorganized and thinking is distracted and not clear. Even though the students are vehement in their belief that they are proficient in multitasking, test scores of MIT students do not back up this claim. 

In chapter 4, on teaching with technology, teachers are shown using technology to help students stay engaged, communicate and problem solve.  One teacher is even using Ning to promote the use of safe social networking, so students can form these types of learning communities.  It was interesting to see disciplinary problems in the school were resolved once the students were actively engaged in all their courses with technology.  But I liked the way the Principal could log onto their computers, from his computer, to spot check on what was happening in the classroom and how the computers were being used.

As an educator I feel it is very important to teach our students how to use this technology wisely.  Yes we have to engage them in the classroom by encouraging its use, but I feel we also need to teach them how to step away from it.  As shown by the section in the video on South Korea’s gaming addiction in the youth.  They are so captured by the games that there have even been instances of deaths when they have not eaten because they were playing a game.  Students are so worried that they will miss some form of communication that they can’t even focus.  When asked to write an essay, they can only write disconnected paragraphs because they are distracted in between their writing.  I believe we can keep our students engaged, but we should help them use the technology for the task on hand.  We can use their cell phones for doing polls, and their computers can be used for collaborative wikis, blogs and problem solving.  Perhaps students could be placed in small groups and given problems to research and solve.  This would keep them motivated to participate because the success of their group would depend on it. It would also encourage them to share ideas, debate options, and offer new solutions.    

Assessments in the 21^st Century

Assessments in the 21^st Century differ from standardized assessments in three ways: “standardized conditions, secrecy of content and individual results” (Bellanca & Brandt, 2010, p.307).  With standardized assessments the idea is that if all conditions are controlled, such as time, room, pencil used, and rules of administration, then the only variable will be the knowledge of the students.  The students work alone and are given no help by teacher or classmates.  Test content is kept confidential in order to be fair to all students, therefore students have to learn and memorize all facts possible on the subjects tested.  Individual scores are the focus of standardized tests. The idea is to “single out the best of the best” (Bellanca & Brandt, 2010, p.310).  With 21^st Century assessments variability is the norm, and is considered “neither good nor bad, but merely reflective of the complexity of the tasks and processes entailed in authentic assessments” (Bellanca & Brandt, 2010, p.319).  Instead of secrecy surrounding the test items, openness is encouraged.  Possible test questions are made available to all students and students are encouraged to contribute to the list as well. Working in teams and individually students are coached into the work habits of the new world economies, where “performance will be measured not by the success of the individual, but by the success of the team, perhaps a multinational team with members spanning the globe” (Bellanca & Brandt, 2010, p.310).  

What types of metrics are used to assess 21^st Century skills?  Does your school/district use any of these? Which would you like for your school/district to use?

As stated in this chapter “information acquisition is a necessary but insufficient condition for assessing 21^st Century skills” ((Bellanca & Brandt, 2010, p.315) “without a combination of critical thinking, problem solving, effective teamwork, and creativity, learning remains stagnant, more useful for passing a test than solving a real-world challenge” (p.314).  There are five key areas of assessment of the 21^st Century skills: learn, understand, create, explore and share.  Each of these can be applied to every core subject.  With the application of these realms to an area of study, teachers can develop lessons that are interdisciplinary and enriching.  Students will not just focus on the facts but learn to apply, explore, and create.

What is the 21^st Century take on the individual verses team results?

The definition of leadership has shifted from rank and status to influence and service. The world no longer operates on individual success, and information is no longer only the privilege of a few.  Sharing and co-creation are the new ways of operation.  Creativity and innovation are enhanced by learning from others, and exchanging ideas.  The 21^st Century framework encourages team work and individual work, keeping in mind that “exploration is an inherently collaborative endeavor” (p.319).

Consider your ideal school—How does it compare to your current school?  What do you think your students will describe as an ideal school?

In my ideal school, I would have teams of teachers for each grade level. Each would teach his/her own subject but come together with the other subject teachers to enrich each of their lessons with the five realms of learning, understanding, exploration, creativity and sharing.  Then I would like to take a leader from each of those teams and create another team to map out the curriculum from grade to grade, so that we see a progression of enrichment going from one level to the next.  I do not see this in our current school.  Each teacher just teaches in their own subject and grade level.  I think the students would enjoy the inclusion of the five realms because it would definitely engage them and allow them to apply the facts that they are expected to memorize.  This inclusion of creativity is always more fun and helps the students retain the information.

 

References:

Bellanca, J. A., & Brandt, R. S. (2010). 21st century skills: rethinking how students learn. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Comparison of 3 Frameworks for 21^st Century Skills

In this activity I chose to compare and contrast three frameworks for digital literacies.  I also created a visual of this comparison using Scribblar.  These three frameworks can be analyzed chronologically beginning with Dede’s neomillennial learning styles which were created in 2005 and “reflect the learning strengths and preferences of people who use technology now” (Bellanca & Brandt, 2010, p.64).  This framework begins to show how the learning style of the 20^th Century shifted from just getting information from the web to the 21^st Century skills of creating, collaborating and sharing information using Web 2.0 tools. The four points of emphasis are fluency in multiple media, Active learning, Expression through nonlinear, associational webs of representations, and Co-design by teachers and students.  These categories were renamed as Research and Informational Literacy, Critical Thinking, Creativity and Innovation, and Communication and Collaboration in the 2007 framework generated by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Additional categories were added by ISTE to reflect the importance of technology proficiency in hardware, software, networks and other areas of digital technology and the importance of Digital Citizenship in dealing with global interaction. 

Keeping in mind that technologies are ever evolving, it is important to remember that the skills of the 21^st Century enable people to use tools “to accomplish an objective that is otherwise unobtainable (such as the remote collaboration of a team scattered across the globe via groupware)” (Bellanca & Brandt, 2010, p.63). This new type of “distributed cognition” (p. 63) is reflected in the framework created by Henry Jenkins in 2009.  Navigating multiple forms of media and using one’s judgment to select appropriate media to use is a demonstration of Research and Information Literacy.  Having a sense of experimentation and discovery in the constructions of models for real-world processes reflects the ability to problem solve, think critically and make decisions.  Collaborating, networking and negotiating harness the power of the collective intelligence of a team.  Finally, the ability to use, synchronize, scan various digital technologies to access and use information demonstrates proficiency in operations of technology.  

Please view my visual representation of these frameworks:

http://screencast.com/t/5UEa3Ox3H8Ze

References:

Bellanca, J. A., & Brandt, R. S. (2010). 21st century skills: rethinking how students learn. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.