Creativity/Media Literacy

Just as with Information Literacy, Media literacy is ever changing due to the access that students have to various forms of media. We used to look at magazine advertisements and television commercials and how movies and television portrayed groups and individuals. Now, because almost anyone can create and publish media in some form or another, we are faced with a wider range platforms that we need to raise awareness about. We are faced with these platforms on the web in mass quantities.

Mind42.com

I explored briefly the Mind42.com website because it caught my eye as it relates to an activity that I am doing currently with my 8th grade students. They are moving through the engineering design process for building their dream house. Currently they are at step three and four: brainstorm possible solutions and make a decision. I had them bookmark three house plans that fit the criteria they developed during the first step of the process. I then had them work in Inspiration to brainstorm the benefits and disadvantages of each floor plan. I wanted them to see that the coolest looking house was maybe not the best house to select for this project.

I could have them use the Mind42.com site to make it more interactive and add the aspect of collaboration to the activity. They could brainstorm about their three choices and then partner up with someone to critically think about the options. I want to see that the students have gone through decision making process. They then journal about it.

The more I explore it, the more I see that it has potential for meaningful collaboration with students.

Creativity/Information Literacy

What are the characteristics of creativity/information literacy today?
In today's digital world where people are creating information online at a rate faster than we can imagine, it has made the task of teaching information literacy to our students even more crucial. With the shear number of pages on the Internet and the millions of people creating content, it can be very overwhelming for students to sift through.
Students still need to know the basics of how to assess the validity of a web resource, but they need to be even "smarter" about it now. They need to be more critical and learn to be educated consumers about the information they are presented with.

How has it changed and stayed the same?
The shear volume of information is what has changed this connection. The ability for people to create information at the click of a button, forces students to be more critical thinkers and problem solvers. Students need to understand the importance of the analysis of the information they come across. The manner in which we teach them about information literacy is still the same.

Interesting Use of Twitter

I was reading a blog post (http://k12edubuzz.com/encourage-some-risk-taking/) because I am thinking in my own process, some of my pull back is my unwillingness to take a risk in my classroom. I understand what the technology can do for our students, but the number of students I am working with is at times overwhelming.

So I need to take more risks. I need to step out of the same old projects, which may be new for the students, but are feeling "old" and beige to me. Perhaps I start with just one section of a course and work with a small group of students to get the management of the project down and have them help me through the process of seeing what works and what doesn't. However, do the students who don't participate loose out on something?

I like the use of Twitter described in this blog post. It shows that sometimes you need to think outside of the box to see how something could be used. Although this particular scenario does not pertain to me, it makes me think of what other different uses it could have.

What are your thoughts?

Voice Thread Experiment

I can easily see how I could use VoiceThread to have students view and analyze floor plans in preparation for class discussion or an extension of a class discussion. I want students to be able to look at a floor plan and discuss what they find to be the benefits or disadvantages, and mostly these are based on their own opinions. This would add a dynamic method of contributing to the class discussion.

I do have a large number of students (about 150 in this class), so I might make a Voice Thread for each section of the class to cut down on the number of comments at one time. Or perhaps the point is to have a large number of people contributing? I would feel that for something like this, there would be so many duplicate answers. I'm not sure how I would manage this. Any thoughts?

What are the features of a 21st Century Classroom?

We have been concentrating on the technology end of what 21st century skills mean for children and teachers alike. The piece that we haven't touched on so far is what it means for a global education. How can these skills help students be more global. We know that these skills, colaborating, communication and creating, are valuable skills to build within our own classroom walls, but what about beyond the four walls. We talked about the world being "flat", so how can we use these skills on a global level? We should seek out opportunities for our students to collaborate and communicate with classrooms across the country and across the seas. These opportunities will not present themselves easily, they need to be sought out by the teacher who is willing to put the extra effort into making these experiences meaningful for the students in front of them.

In a 21st Century classroom we should not notice the technology. It shouldn't be a special day that we got the laptop carts or the special lesson that uses the interactive whiteboard. These things should be blended into the daily routine in a manner that students don't see that it is something special. It should be like taking out their notebook. We need to become as comfortable with its potential and uses as we are with our text books and whiteboard markers. Students shouldn't notice technology happening in their classrooms. They don't use technology as a special treat in their lives outside of the classroom, it should be that seamless.

The Design Process

It is interesting to see that when you have one idea about how something will go, and you start working on it, you realize that it is not what you had in mind. This is striking to me because I am teaching the design process to my students in regards to architectural design. I hadn't stopped to think about how the design process relates to things other than engineering and construction.

The design process includes:

• Identify and define the problem or need
• Research the problem
• Brainstorm possible solutions
• Select the best solution
• Construct a prototype
• Test and Evaluate the solution
• Communicate the solution
• Redesign

The redesign brings you back to the beginning again. You identify what needs to change and go through the process again.

The process of developing these blogs and wikis with meaning for our classrooms is following the process. As you begin to work on something, you will go through each of these steps - conscientiously or un-conscientiously you are working through the design of a useful tool for yourself or for your students.

I began a wiki in Moodle and now that I see how it looks and "feels", I don't like it at all and think that making a seperate wiki will be more useful for my students. I plan to post a FAQ section, video tutorials and a "help" section.

21st Century Learners

One of the things that struck me the most with this weeks readings were the comments from the students in the 21st Century Digital Learner article. I felt a pang of resentment. I feel that because their outside world is so stimulating and entertaining, that they expect their classrooms to be entertainment spots too. I absolutely agree that 21st century learners are different, but everything they do doesn't have to be bells and whistles and a horse and pony show.

Reading the above, you may think that I am being resistant to new technology, but that is not it at all. I absolutely agree that getting in touch with their world is useful for making the learning meaningful for them. But I also believe that they need to understand that the world is not all fun and games. That the world they live in may be "flat" now, but that we still need to have the ability to know how to learn from "regular" teaching too.

PowerPoints used to be "the thing", but now, even those are too boring for the kids. Its not exciting enough. So now we can use things with even more bells and whistles and wow factors.

21st Century Skills

21st Century Skills are very relevant to my curriculum as a technology teacher. It is important for me to keep up to date with the world of technology. Over the summer I took Global Understanding for the 21st Century, so this is a nice follow-up to that. I hope to come away with new ideas to enhance my curriculum.