I finished the Richardson book. I always like the big picture endings that good books have. It is easy to get lost in the details of how to use the web 2.0 tools in education, but Richardson does a good job of explaining the changes and movements that will take place when web tools are used successfully in education. Some ideas I highlighted under the heading New Literacies in his book are the following:
1) It will be more important to know where or how to find the answer to a question than the answer to the question
2) The ability of students to learn 24/7 may mean we need to change the structure, time and dissemination practices of the school day
3) Teachers can't pretend to know everything anymore, so we have to tap into the resources available to us.
4) Finally students needs to learn how to build their own personal learning networks.
I was reading a blog post from Richardson today entitled Digital Inclusion. I get the feeling that schools are not changing fast enough for Richardson of which I can empathize! Another point that he makes that I would include in this set of "overall picture" ideas is that unless parents understand the benefits of digital learning to their children, change will continue to be slow in education. Below is an excerpt from his post.
"While this is not a post on where the lever is, I’ve been arguing for a while now that not much of this is going to change until the stakeholders, in this case parents, take it upon themselves to demand something new. Something more relevant. But the only way that parents are going to DEMAND access is if they see that not simply as a way for kids to get a computer but to see connections online as a way to a better future, a way to help thier kids become more educated, better learners than by books and paper alone. Unfortunately, we’re losing the media war on this one right now. Feeling like a broken record, but we need to do a better job of making this case beyond our own still small, nascent network."
I, Lisa, would also say that schools will not create digital learning opportunities for students until those 21st century skills are what are tested on district and state wide assessments. Anyone have thoughts on that statement?
Once upon a time there was a classroom
7 years ago
I read it yesterday also. I do have a lot of confidence that parents can get things done! so I'm with him there, but you do make an interesting point on assessments.
ReplyDeleteI don't know - how long does it take - to move into a new century?! I heard that Arnie Duncan spoke at UNI, but I didn't hear or read anything very new. He talked a little about longer school days and years. Is that the answer?
I'm listening to students on a radio show - "Rockin' The Ridge" - Ram Radio 103.3 June 8 episode just now and I'm thinking maybe this generation won't allow us to not change!
And what do you think Richardson is going to say about "Evernote in a future post"??
and "death of RSS" - maybe Twitter is taking over that role??
Thanks for writing!
Your last question about assessment really makes me think, Lisa. I'm reminded of that TRAILS assessment for information literacy. I think that's an assessment that works toward testing 21st century skills from a library standpoint. If assessement for 21st century skills were to show up on the ITEDS, there would have to be some sort of document that listed skills, standards, and outcomes. Oh wait--that's the ICC:) Yep, I think we're ready for a change.
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