tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16660456.post5384159656766265600..comments2024-03-22T08:16:45.553-06:00Comments on The Fischbowl: No One Right WayKarl Fischhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11121548023409279686noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16660456.post-70590619288655405952011-02-20T02:16:51.583-07:002011-02-20T02:16:51.583-07:00I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class a...I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class at University of South Alabama. Dr. Strange's class is about 21st Century literacy skills. By the end of our class we should have a working knowledge of media communications, current and future technologies and how to use them, and how to use the technologies legally and safely. So this post hits home. In our case this is a separate course to learn these skills. I like the idea of having a separate class that focuses and can get really in-depth with the skills. I also feel that it should be embedded in other courses as well. I do not think that the labeling should be such a large issue though. The importance should be focused on the skills. As educators I believe we should be literate in skills that are necessary today and help us with what ever future skills we are going to encounter. I believe that we should try and embed these skills in our teaching if possible. We should be teaching our students what they need to know and how to use the technologies available to them. I really enjoyed this post. Thank you for sharing. <br />I will be commenting on another post of yours in two weeks, March 6, then posting a summary of both posts on my blog if you would like to read my post. My blog is http://TidikisMirandaedm310.blogspot.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16660456.post-6906525152605746692011-02-15T10:10:23.235-07:002011-02-15T10:10:23.235-07:00I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class a...I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed reading your post. I agree there is no "one right way" of going about teaching technology. A lot of schools are struggling with budget cuts, and I think that technology could be added in every class, not just one. I also am optimistic about the 21st century. I loved that you made the comment we are only 11 years in, we have "89 more to go." This shows that yes we've come a long way, we still have many more years to go. Great post!Kayla Nelson's EDM310 Class Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10978421965880965304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16660456.post-64757524928378775042011-02-13T19:10:35.400-07:002011-02-13T19:10:35.400-07:00Not that I have any standing in this conversation,...Not that I have any standing in this conversation, as I am merely an Audio Visual Educational Sales Representative or what most educators refer to as a vendor, I am however a member of the International Society for Technology in Education, also known as ISTE.<br /><br />Karl knows me from work we've done for his school. Most of it good. <br /><br />ISTE does provide a rubric for teachers called NETS (National Educational Technology Standards) for Teachers and for Administrators. <br /><br />For Karl or any of his colleagues that would like, I have a couple of hefty NETS publications that I am willing to lend. The first is "Preparing Teachers to Use Technology". The second is a NETS "Resources for Assessment". I have read them but have no immediate need for them.<br /><br />It just so happens that I am one of those people who loves to learn for the sake of learning. One of my favorite publications in the Journal of Research on Technology in Education. It's always filled with interesting articles.<br /><br />One study in a recent edition, did an expose on students learning of different grade levels using a popular movie making software program with students required to execute different roles in a timely completion of a motion picture project. The quick of the matter is that the Juniors and Seniors under three different dynamics never finished their projects on time, but only one group of sophomores did. The authors postulate that the habits that the older, more experienced students had gained, failed them because changes in the version of the actual movie making program changed during the course of the experiment. The sophomores hadn't Lolo'd (a sales term meaning Locked On Locked Out)themselves into preset patterns of using the program. <br /><br />This speaks to Karl's point of the pace of change. It's moving faster than your brightest students. <br /><br />None of us will master all of the facets of technology - the hardware or the software. <br /><br />There's a reason I'm not a teacher and it has to do with patience. I admire each and everyone of you because you possess an innate strength that most of the rest of us don't possess... or at least you should if you're going to be good at your job...and that's patience.<br /><br />Seriously, if anyone would like to take me up on my offer of my "lending library" please let Karl know.<br /><br />David AlleyLearner2020https://www.blogger.com/profile/13113728028354371228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16660456.post-30450918009231249652011-02-12T20:59:00.475-07:002011-02-12T20:59:00.475-07:00For anyone following along, Mary Ann posted some ...For anyone following along, Mary Ann <a href="http://maryannreilly.blogspot.com/2011/02/literacies-are-cultural-practices.html" rel="nofollow"> posted some additional thoughts on her blog</a>.Karl Fischhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11121548023409279686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16660456.post-81985198639610637872011-02-12T20:57:06.977-07:002011-02-12T20:57:06.977-07:00Patrick - Well, splitting hairs when dealing with ...<b>Patrick</b> - Well, splitting hairs when dealing with Will and me is a challenge in and of itself. I'm sure Will will be relieved as this is the first time anyone has ever agreed with him over me.<br /><br />If it was up to me, I would prefer the approach you and Will suggest. But it's not up to me. Or to you. Or to Will. It's up to each school to make the best decision for that school and their students. I'm finding it a little hard to understand how we can all be so sure we know what's best for every single situation out there.<br /><br />So, if the choice is a school that ignores this issue completely, or a school that teaches a separate course (and hopefully also integrates across all courses), you'd suggest the school ignore it completely?Karl Fischhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11121548023409279686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16660456.post-81857553936888690772011-02-12T20:05:22.088-07:002011-02-12T20:05:22.088-07:00Karl,
Understanding that we are all basically agr...Karl,<br /><br />Understanding that we are all basically agreeing here, I'll have to split the hair and move in Will's direction here, and here's why:<br /><br />When you place those specific "skills" within the confines of one class, those skills tend to stay in that class unless there is a conscious effort not only by the staff, but also by the students, to port them to their other practices. How many times have we heard teachers/students say "that's the blogging class," or "don't take teacher x because he/she makes you add to his Moodle discussion board every night?" Or worse, "Isn't that 21st Cent. Literacy class where they are supposed to be doing that stuff? because I have content to cover..."<br /><br />I'd rather see the community come together and decide which aspects are going to be present in all classes, which aspects of "21st Century skills" they feel are valuable enough to be deal breakers for each of their disciplines.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08156784418545421424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16660456.post-63452811814484375222011-02-09T00:32:35.612-07:002011-02-09T00:32:35.612-07:00struck a chord.
reminded me of this: http://tinyu...struck a chord. <br />reminded me of this: http://tinyurl.com/63k4frt <br /><br />if it resonates, super.<br />if not, ignore.monika hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17903730727359304285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16660456.post-11263544839461895492011-02-08T16:01:33.576-07:002011-02-08T16:01:33.576-07:00My concern about the conversation is that all of t...My concern about the conversation is that all of the talk about skills tends to situate both 20th and 21st century literacy skills as examples of autonomous literacy (Street, 1985). This is highly problematic. Being literate is a cultural practice that is always informed by who we are and are not. Separating that from a set of autonomously sitated skills allows us to imagine we can transmit "literate behaviors" to and from people. How one organizes the experiences we call "literacy" matters and understanding that those practices are culturally (in)formed requires more emphasis. The more important question I think is not what the "course" will be called, but thinking that such learning can and ought to be reduced to a set of skills that can be transmitted and assessed (I am sure someone has already written a 21 st century literacy skills rubric). it won't matter a hoot so long as we continue to think that skills are transferable commodities that are striipped from sociocultural contexts. What we value, believe, understand, and privilege is our Discourse. Coming to understand the power and limitations of such ought to be the work we most privilege at hand.Mary Ann Reillyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14349201167828984708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16660456.post-21483715601116327952011-02-08T15:59:11.934-07:002011-02-08T15:59:11.934-07:00Will - That was fast.
Yeah, I know we basically a...<b>Will</b> - That was fast.<br /><br />Yeah, I know we basically agree, just used your tweet to force me to write something. And I know that course <i>can</i> become the easy button, but it doesn't have to and I think we need to be careful about assuming that it always does. Broad brush strokes . . .<br /><br /><b>Michelle</b> - We also pretty much agree. I just think we should be careful about tarring a school that creates such a course just because we've seen it done poorly. I think a teacher librarian is an excellent person to lead that effort, as long as they are leading and not doing a solo act.Karl Fischhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11121548023409279686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16660456.post-2079316947660320192011-02-08T15:52:02.576-07:002011-02-08T15:52:02.576-07:00I think I see what Will is saying, and I see it in...I think I see what Will is saying, and I see it in our schools all the time. The teacher librarian at our school (yes, we're still lucky enough to have teacher librarians) is often tasked with teaching kids "21st century skills," but I don't know how often anyone else incorporates them into their classrooms. In our secondary buildings, those things are seen as the "computer teachers" jobs. I don't understand that mentality!<br /><br />As a music teacher, I'm lucky enough to have flexibility in what I teach so I can learn with my students about making connections, collaborating, communicating, etc. <br /><br />And Karl, I completely agree with you. Things are <i>different.</i> We ALL need to be teaching and learning differently... I just don't think that "school" is catching up quickly enough.Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15579202992634736988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16660456.post-58742824887036211622011-02-08T15:26:58.843-07:002011-02-08T15:26:58.843-07:00So thanks for taking this deeper, Karl. (I wish th...So thanks for taking this deeper, Karl. (I wish this would happen more in my kids' classrooms.) Good stuff for the most part.<br /><br />We're basically on the same page, but as usual, that initial 140-character Tweet (with a few characters left over) very poorly communicated my frustration. I don't disagree that we shouldn't be so angsty over the 21st Century Skills phrase, or that schools should be able to teach a course in 21C Literacies. The problem, however, is that course too often becomes the easy button, the way that we get around doing the really hard work of going deep into our curriculum to build these literacies into all aspects of what we do in schools. If we offer the course or the unit, we can check that box without every really making all this stuff that <i>is really different</i> show up anywhere else in the learning we do. I've seen it...I see it in many of the schools I get a chance to visit.<br /><br />So, I really wasn't saying that there was one right way as much as I was suggesting that this is one wrong way. The kind of skills we're talking about here transcend disciplines and grades. To isolate it out suggests, to me at least, an unwillingness to see the bigger picture, the one that is so <i>different.</i>Will Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05971776026580744097noreply@blogger.com