Final Blog Post: My Game Plan

Monitoring My GAME Plan Progress

          As pointed out by Cennamo, Ross and Etmer, (2009), as a metacognitive and self-directed learner, I must take cognizance of three important key areas such as meticulous planning, tireless monitoring of the plan and consistent evaluation in order to achieve those goals that I have set for myself. These processes take time and efforts to achieve, however they are surmountable and achievable with concerted efforts. I have set up my GAME Plan, I did put in place the Action to achieve my goal, and I am Monitoring the process so far to see if I am moving towards the right direction.  The Evaluation piece is also going on and is on an on-going basis, to do this, I constantly reflect on my actions so as to look for areas where I need to modify and make changes if need be.

CARRYING OUT MY GAME PLAN

CARRYING OUT MY GAME PLAN

Developing a GAME Plan is one thing, it is another story entirely to follow through and accomplish your goal as you have planed.  Like an old saying that, nobody plans to fail, but many failed to plan. As indicated in my GAME Plan last week, I take to heart the judgment of Dr. Ross that, teachers should be aware of all the educational software out there, he says further that, teachers should attend conferences and training, “go out and seek information on regular basis” (Ross, 2010). In doing this, he suggests that we can take the advantage of local, regional and state organizations that are out there to help educators like me.

Self-Directed Learners

  Wordle Document on Creative Thinkers and Self-Directed Learners.

My Personal GAME Plan

National Education Standards for Teachers

          As technology increases in leaps and bounds, more and more responsibilities are placed on teachers’ shoulders by both society and the school system. As many people have rightly expressed, this is actually a very fun time to be a teacher because of so many activities and events that are brought to the fore front of education debates. This however depends on which part of the spectrum you are, no matter which part you are, one fact is incontrovertible, and that is technology has come to stay, irrespective of whether we like it or not, we have got to work with it. As it was expressed by NETS, (n.d.) the incredible advances in technology are making and putting more and more demands on teachers, there is no aspect of our lives that is not affected by the development and advances in technology, even the way we think and speak, we think in gigabyte and speak digital language. After reviewing the National Education Standards for Teacher, I find myself right on target at many of the indicators, I am practicing many of them, trying to improve my proficiency, and always searching for ways of improving myself through practice and reading. However, I need to improve on my ability in some of them and get better in the ones I am currently practicing. While I find myself comfortable in encouraging students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources, as well as designing and adapting relevant learning experience that incorporated digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity, I still need to cultivate the habit of doing some of the items mentioned in the indicators.

Indicators That I like to improve my Proficiency on

          I need to increase and improve my ability to advocate, model, and teach safe, legal and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property and appropriate documentation of sources. When we used other people’s ideas or information and we failed to properly reference the sources, Warlick, (2010a) while discussing the “Ethical Usage” describes it as stealing, she urges teachers to model citation of sources to their students very clearly. I also like to improve and increase my participation in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning so that I can take the advantage of students’ digital literacy skills. (Hartman, 2010).

My GAME Plan

          Dr. Cennamo in her discussion of GAME plan identified four important components of planning as setting “Goal”, developing Action plan to achieve the goal, “Monitoring” to identify what works and what does not, and then “Evaluating” the product and reflect on the process in order to see where improvement is required. My “GAME Plan” to increase my proficiency in the areas identified above is based on the ideas suggested by Cennamo et, al, (2009).

Setting the Goal

         G.  In setting achievable “Goal” for myself regarding my ability to advocate, model, and teach safe, legal and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property and appropriate documentation of sources is to learn more as much as I possibly can about laws and rules governing accessing and using digital information and all laws governing copyright and intellectual property. Read what experts have to say on topic of appropriate use of digital information and familiarize myself with the consequences of non compliance.

“Action” taken will include extensive internet search to locate and access more relevant information on appropriate use and reference of digital information. If I could locate an expert, I will reach out to an expert to hear what he/she may have to say on the issue including outcomes of any issues or cases of non compliance.

To “Monitor” my activity, I will create a checklist of what I need to know about on the issue of safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information, proper citation of digital sources as well as copyright and intellectual property. I will like to know what constitute an intellectual property and when is the rule violated.

“Evaluation” will take the form of documentation what I learned and know about the issues I searched, documentation I compiled and actual teaching and modeling to my students how to be safe while surfing the net, properly referencing any digital information I used and telling them the consequences of “stealing” other people’s idea without giving them credit for their work. We will jointly research outcomes of cases of stealing intellectual properties and violation of copyright laws. I will extend my learning by sharing my work with other colleagues, and also seeking more information from variety of source as well as asking for feedback and comments from colleagues and friends.

On my second area where I like to improve my participation, I will begin by setting my goal similar to the one above. The “Goal” here is to seek and reach out and participate in both local and global learning communities and explore creative applications so as to improve student learning. Since in team, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, I will search and find out about various local and global community organizations that are interested in using technology tools to improve student engagement and learning.

 The “Action” I will take is to search the internet, check the local library and ask people about the names and location of organizations both global and local with the interest in using technology to help students learn and participate in their own education.  A veritable source of information is my teachers’ union, the Peel Elementary Teachers’ Local as well as Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, various local and international news papers and magazines as well as radio and television and of cause the internet.

“Monitoring” this goal will not prove difficulty, I will be able to look at how many local and global community associations or groups I have been able to contact and registered with. I will be able to count on my fingers’ tips how many meetings and conferences that I have attended and participated in during the period I have joined.

“Evaluation” stage will take place when I am able to transfer my learning and participation in various activities into my class and reflect them in my instructional strategies. This will manifest itself when I am able to improve the use of existing and new technology tools in my class to improve participation, engagement and improvement in my student learning and achievement.

I will extend my learning by reflecting on my teaching practice and participating more in local and global conferences. I will continue to consolidate and seek to increase and improve use of digital technology in my class, my school as a whole, create technology club in my school as well as teaching my skills to other colleagues who may be interested.

 I also like to improve and increase my participation in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning so that I can take the advantage of students’ digital literacy skills.

References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom

        use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA:

        Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

laws. (n.d.). ISTE | NETS for Teachers. ISTE | Membership, NETS Standards, Books, Journals

        and Professional Development for Teachers. Retrieved September 13, 2011, from

        http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers.aspx 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010a). Program 1: Promoting self-directed learning with

       technology [DVD]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Ethical Usage [Webcast]. Supporting

        Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Teaching Students Secure and Ethical Use of Information - Reflection

          This course EDUC-6712I-2 Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom is one of the courses that I have come to treasure for the insight and many previously taken for granted facts that it brought to the forefront and accentuates with a renewed vigor. In this course, I have gained many strategies that will remain with me for life and influence my learning and teaching practice forever! The responsibility placed on us both providence and society put teachers in a vulnerable and precarious position, yet most often, we are not fully empowered to fulfill these roles due to lack of adequate resources, and interference from any quarters. As teachers, we are expected to equip students with the 21^st century skills that will make them contributing members of the society and give them a competitive edge in the 21^st century economy, Warlick, (2010) said teachers are to prepare students for the unpredictable future and teach them how to learn in the new computer information age. Hartman, (2010) opined that we have to work backward, which is the opposite of what we are used to. He pointed out the art of questioning, (Dr. Armstrong noted that, students’ generated questions are better teacher generated questions), searching, evaluating, (Dr, As Coiro, (2003) informed in his article that users of internet must be able to deconstruct what is being red,) synthesizing and communicating as those skills that we have to help our students to learn. Students need to know how to ask the right questions, synthesize pieces of information and add their own signature as well as knowing how to

Final Reflection on Evaluation of Websites

Final Reflection

Acquiring 21st century skills/fluencies and teaching students on how to evaluate and validate websites are not as easy as it sounds. That becomes very clear to me after I finished the applications assignment this week. Many experts have spoken on the need to teach and empower students to become critical consumers of information, to approach internet with caution and determine the veracity of information encountered online. Beth Philips informed her students on the ABC of websites, while Eagleton, & Dobler, talked about 4As of evaluation, and Jukes, (2007), talked about the 21st Century fluency skills that are very critical for students to have if they must succeed in the 21st century economy. The onus is on the consumers of digital information to predict where major links will lead, explore the website and look for relevance, identify the creator and establish his/her motives, make a note of any suspicious images or texts, and finally make judgment about the veracity of the site and decide whether to explore further or not. From my experience now, this is easier said than done. It requires many practices and great planning for students to get a hang of how to properly evaluate websites as many hoax and malicious websites are out there to mislead people.

Firstly, I like the experience I derived from the evaluation exercise, it empowers me to question every website I visit and explore, to seek validation and to crosscheck every fact listed. I will always look for supporting evidence and look for alternative website to corroborate information. I will subject every website to what Philips, (2010) called the “ABC” of website, as well as advices given by Dr. Warlick on what digital information consumers should do to evaluate websites and expose truth about the website.

The second part of my reflection is how to empower my students to be able to discern the wheat from the chaff when they explore unfamiliar websites. This involves a lot of practice and preparation on my part. It is pertinent to inform students that they need to consume digital information with caution, and strive to dig dipper for truth each time they come across information. I had not been exposed to the unit on how to evaluate website, I will believe all the information I came across on the RYT Hospital without detecting all the fallacy embedded on the site. As Dr. Warlick pointed out, the internet is unregulated, it has no boarder, anybody can publish anything, hence, the burden is on the consumers to evaluate and validate all information taken from a website. This week unit has equipped me with the ability to do this fairly and I will continue to consolidate on what I have learned this week and pass same to my students in other to prepare them for the 21st Century economy.

Clcik Link Below to listen to the Audio from box.net

References

Coiro, J. (n.d.). Coiro, J. (2003). Rethinking comprehension strategies to better prepare students

for critically evaluating content on the Internet. The NERA Journal, 39, 29-34. (Julie

Coiro) –Academia.edu . University of Rhode Island - Academia.edu . Retrieved July 18, 2011, from

http://uri.academia.edu/JulieCoiro/Papers/97344/Coiro_J._2003_._Rethinking_comprehension_strategies_to_better_prepare_students_for_critically_evaluating_content_on_the_Internet._The_NERA_Journal_39_29-34
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New

York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Jukes, I. (2007). 21st Century fluency skills: Attributes of a 21st century learner.

21CFP - The 21st Century Fluency Project. (n.d.). 21st Century Fluency Project. Retrieved

July 16, 2011, from http://fluency21.com/about.cfm

Laureate Education, Inc. 2010 (Producer). Evaluating Information. (DVD). How students should

evaluate the information found on the Internet. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Website Evaluation

Final Reflection

Acquiring 21st century skills/fluencies and teaching students on how to evaluate and validate websites are not as easy as it sounds. That becomes very clear to me after I finished the applications assignment this week. Many experts have spoken on the need to teach and empower students to become critical consumers of information, to approach internet with caution and determine the veracity of information encountered online. Beth Philips informed her students on the ABC of websites, while Eagleton, & Dobler, talked about 4As of evaluation, and Jukes, (2007), talked about the 21st Century fluency skills that are very critical for students to have if they must succeed in the 21st century economy. The onus is on the consumers of digital information to predict where major links will lead, explore the website and look for relevance, identify the creator and establish his/her motives, make a note of any suspicious images or texts, and finally make judgment about the veracity of the site and decide whether to explore further or not. From my experience now, this is easier said than done. It requires many practices and great planning for students to get a hang of how to properly evaluate websites as many hoax and malicious websites are out there to mislead people.

CLICK This Link and Listen to AUDIO

Firstly, I like the experience I derived from the evaluation exercise, it empowers me to question every website I visit and explore, to seek validation and to crosscheck every fact listed. I will always look for supporting evidence and look for alternative website to corroborate information. I will subject every website to what Philips, (2010) called the “ABC” of website, as well as advices given by Dr. Warlick on what digital information consumers should do to evaluate websites and expose truth about the website.

The second part of my reflection is how to empower my students to be able to discern the wheat from the chaff when they explore unfamiliar websites. This involves a lot of practice and preparation on my part. It is pertinent to inform students that they need to consume digital information with caution, and strive to dig dipper for truth each time they come across information. I had not been exposed to the unit on how to evaluate website, I will believe all the information I came across on the RYT Hospital without detecting all the fallacy embedded on the site. As Dr. Warlick pointed out, the internet is unregulated, it has no boarder, anybody can publish anything, hence, the burden is on the consumers to evaluate and validate all information taken from a website. This week unit has equipped me with the ability to do this fairly and I will continue to consolidate on what I have learned this week and pass same to my students in other to prepare them for the 21st Century economy.



References
Coiro, J. (n.d.). Coiro, J. (2003). Rethinking comprehension strategies to better prepare students

for critically evaluating content on the Internet. The NERA Journal, 39, 29-34. (Julie

Coiro) –Academia.edu . University of Rhode Island - Academia.edu . Retrieved July 18, 2011, from

http://uri.academia.edu/JulieCoiro/Papers/97344/Coiro_J._2003_._Rethinking_comprehension_strategies_to_better_prepare_students_for_critically_evaluating_content_on_the_Internet._The_NERA_Journal_39_29-34
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New

York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Jukes, I. (2007). 21st Century fluency skills: Attributes of a 21st century learner.

21CFP - The 21st Century Fluency Project. (n.d.). 21st Century Fluency Project. Retrieved

"21st Century Fluency Skills"

"21st Century Fluency Skills."

Students these days are exposed to plethora of information more than ever before, as pointed out by Warlick, (2010), literacy has gone far beyond ability to read and understand texts, in this age of computer information technology, texts are combined with multimedia information systems where anyone is free to publish without filtration or scrutiny. As Coiro, (2003) informed in his article, users of internet must be able to deconstruct what is being red, identify author’s motive, investigate the source and be able to remove the wheat from the chaff. Many expert spoke on the need to teach and empower students to become critical consumers of information, to approach internet with caution and determine the veracity of information encountered online. Beth Philips informed her students on the ABC of websites, while Eagleton, & Dobler, talked about 4As of evaluation, and Jukes, (2007), talked about the 21st Century fluency skills

Information Literacy and Online Inquiry

Information Literacy and Online Inquiry


This week’s resources really empowered me to become a better online inquirer. Coiro, (2005) and Hartman, (2010) explained how daunting it is for young students to navigate their ways online, and some adults are even in the same shoes. This week’s resources further reinforced the notion that students should be purposely thought how to search for the information they want online. I find some of the methods outlined by Dr. Hartman very tasking and time consuming. Trying to determine the authenticity of a web site by looking at web address and making predictions as to where next the website will take you could not be said to be realistic. On the other hand knowing the conventions about domain names can help students to determine which websites are authentic. November, (2008) and Eagleton & Dobler (2007) give some hints on how to identify and distinguish between a personal and institutional websites which I found very helpful.

Blog: Final Reflection

Blog: Final Reflection
In Understanding the Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology, the experts shared and spoke passionately on the significance of technology in the 21st - century classroom, as well as the importance of exposing students to technology in order to prepare them for the life ahead after graduation. They also distinguished between using technology as a teaching tool and using technology as a learning tool. Orey, (2010) declared that when technology is used merely as teaching tools, such technology tools have not been used effectively. Dr. Orey reminded educators that, learners need to be active participants during learning process, not just as perceive receivers of knowledge, he highlighted many way by which technology could be used as both teaching and learning tools so as to have full impacts on the learners. Orey, (2010) emphasized the importance of collaboration and cooperation among students during classroom interaction; he mentioned that learners should learn with and from one another. As the name of this course suggests, educators ought to be able to choose appropriate instructional technology tools and use same effectively and judiciously to increase students’ achievement.

Reflection on My Personal Theory of Learning

As a result of my exposure to Educ. 6711, I have identified some fundamental flaws in my personal educational philosophy and personal theory of learning. Even though, I hold the belief that learners are not “empty barrels”, they have some knowledge, they are individually unique, and that they learn differently, and as a result, I believe in individualized instruction and that learners should be at the centre of instruction. I am also of the opinion that every student can be successful in an ideal situation. One fallacy I found in my theory is the statement I made that, as a teacher my duty therefore is to locate and bring out those resources and knowledge in my students. The exposure to this course definitely made me to shift from teacher-centered to learner-centered mode of teaching. As (Prenskey, 2010) pointed out, I now put students’ “engagement before content”, instead of deciding for students, I now decide with students.

CONNECTIVISM AT A GLANCE

Link to My Voice Thread: voicethread.com/share/1888478/


Connectivism had been described as the “learning theory for the digital age” Siemens, (2004).
Informal learning has become a very significant part of the learning that learners will be exposed to in their life time, learning now occurs anywhere and anytime in a variety of ways, the amount of information out there makes it even more difficult o manage. Technology is changing the way we learn and even the way we think, many of the learning processes previously explained by learning theories such as behaviourism, congnitivism and constructivism can now be supported by technology, using Siemens, (2004) words, “know-how and know what is being supplemented with know-where” , referring to where to find information in the digital age. Connectivism had altered the traditional way of learning and knowing. Siemens, (2004) described connetivism as the “integration of principles of explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization.” Learning is no longer entirely under the control of any individual, including the teachers. The roles of the teachers are now becoming more of regulators, models, and helpers, to help learners know where to draw the line and make a distinction between important and irrelevant details. In the digital world, learning and knowledge emerge in a diversity of opinions, there is always inclination towards knowing more than what we know now, and maintaining “connection” is a condition that facilitates our ability to know more. Connectivism describes the new medium of learning in the digital age as “push and Pull”, the television and the book age only push their content at us, but the Web age is a combo of two in one, it combines the e one way of broadcast with the two-way interactive capacity of the new digital media that can “leverage your little effort in a big way”.

Constructivism in Practice

Orey, (2001) described the constructionist/constructivist approach to learning as a unique individual interpretation of one’s experience or knowledge. A learner constructs an idea in his or mind about what he or she just experienced, and based on the information, the learner could assimilate, accommodate, establish equilibration and finally store the information in his or her schema. These mental processes depend on the learner’s developmental stages at the time of experience, Lever-Duffy, & McDonald, (2008) noted that if the new experience readily fits into learner’s prior schema, the experience is then assimilated, if not, the learner will adjust his or her cognitive map to accommodate the new experience, in this way, the learner tries to attain equilibration by balancing his or her current external reality with the current belief. Hence, Piaget declared that, knowledge is continually under construction, because knowledge is “dynamic, ever changing with our experiences” depending on the learner's age, nature and nurture.

COGNITIVISM IN TEACHING PRACTICE

Cognitivism in Practice

Cognitivism in sharp contrast to behaviourism supported the idea that learning is a mental process which starts at the point where information is received and undergoes manipulation, finally stored and eventually used. Level-Duffy, & McDonald, (2008). Cognitivism is rooted in the idea that behaviour can be “controlled and changed by way of reasoning and analysis”
while behaviourism is teacher centred, cognitivism is learner centered, learner becomes more active while the teacher takes the role of a stand-by guide, and he comes in only when necessary. Learners embark on the voyage of self-discovery using discussions, case studies, explorations, questioning, projects and presentations. Learners are always in charge of their own learning and move to the next level in a self directed fashion. The Montessori School based its teaching method on the cognitive theory assumption that “emotional factors and personal growth” must be considered and given priority of highest order if the learners must develop in their learning, and lessons are seen as “experimental interaction” to support learners’ true normal development.which translates to the fact that lesson should be based on what learners can handle at their particular stage of development.
The cognitivist theory based its pedagogy on the assumption that the “black box” in the learner’s mind should be “opened and understood.” The cognitivists believe that human mind is like a processor, capable of processing many and different types of information.

Importance of Cues, Questions and Advanced organizers
Cues, questions and advanced organizers is an instructional strategy developed to make contents attainment easier for learners. This method focused on augmenting students’ ability to “retrieve, organize and use” information. Pitler, (2007). Cues are hints that inform learners about what they will experience, while questions help to invoke learners’ prior knowledge and advanced organizers help learners to arrange, organize and make sense of curriculum contents. This strategy, if used appropriately helps students to focus on important information, arrange information in an organized way and enables learners to personalize their own learning.

BEHAVIOURIST LEARNING THEORIES

Application of Behaviourist Theory in the Classroom


Behaviourism also known as the Learning Perspective is a school of thought established by an American Psychologist called John. B. Watson, in 1913. This theory is deeply rooted in psychology and its cardinal belief is that, people’s behaviour can be measured, changed and trained. They believed that behaviour can be conditioned by series of processes known as “operant conditioning”,
hence any behaviour can be learned and unlearned, this believe has a very significant implication on education during the early days of the behaviourist movement. To this school of thought, learning is observable, measurable and it leads to change of behaviour. Other early Psychologists that promoted this idea were B. F. Skinner, Ivan Pavlov and Edward Thorndike. Their work on learning led to many revolutionary changes to education during the glorious period of Behaviourism. A new school of Behaviourism in the 21st century is springing up with particular interest in the areas of behaviour analysis through research and education.” Behaviourism”
is not dead as some people want to believe, and its contribution to education cannot be denied.


Reinforcing Effort

It is very important to reinforce students’ effort by allowing students to enjoy a measure of success in their school work, especially when the piece of work represents the student’s best effort. Pitler,[et al.]. (2007), encouraged teachers to explicitly teach students that, putting in one’s effort leads to success rather than attributing success to good luck or other extraneous factors. One of the best ways to do this is the appropriate use of reinforcement. This was demonstrated by Pavlov in rewarding his dog whenever an “appropriate selection” was made. This approach clearly supports the belief of the early behaviourists about the use of positive reinforcement to encourage frequency of desirable behavour, and negative reinforcement to discourage undesirable behaviour, however, caution is the key word when using negative reinforcement, this method are still being used by educators today, and it helps in modifying students’ behavior. This approach could easily be used with integration of technology.

The Power of Technology in Learning The 21st Century Skills

The definition of educational technology varies according to who defines the term, to an educator, it will include any media that can be used for instructional purposes to enhance and enrich learning, while a tech guru will see educational technology as all hard and software that can be used for instructional purposes, but from whatever perspective one looks at it, the use of technology has changed the way we teach and learn. (Lever-Duffy 7 McDonald, 2008) Technology has come to stay, love of or hate it, irrespective of our opinion; technology is not showing any sign of slowing down. We have a lot of catching up to do, especially all the “technology immigrants.” (Prenskey, 2010). The 21st century educators have no place to hide, we need to catch up with the “digital natives” we all have in our classrooms. (Thornburg, 2010) declared that the use of technology is no longer a matter of option, but a reasonable expectation, if we want to produce the caliber of students that will compete successfully in the 21st century economy.

Technology has made possible 24/7 anywhere any time learning possible, it has shrunk the line between school and community. (Dede, 2010). Teachers are no longer the only repertoire of knowledge; the learners can access information on the web anywhere anytime wherever they have connection to the web. If anything, the school is not yet in full speed as far as technology is concern; all the stake holders in education have a duty to the students to step up the use of technology in the school, so that the students can have a competitive advantage in the 21st century economy.

References
Thornburg, D. (2004). Technology and education: Expectations, not options. (Executive
Briefing No. 401). Retrieved from
http://www.tcpdpodcast.org/briefings/expectations.pdf
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010c). Program number 3: The third wave [DVD].
Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD:
Author.
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful tools for classrooms (3rd
ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Reflection on EDUC-6710I-1 Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society.

In Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society, the experts shared and spoke passionately on the significance of technology in the 21st - century classroom, as well as the importance of exposing students to technology in order to prepare them for the life ahead after graduation. As (Prensky, 2010) noted, the future of education is digital, not linear. The millennia learners as coined out by (Dede, 2010) work together to solve problems, they think in video and digital forms rather than texts, and as such, 21st century students thrive in a media based learning environment.

DIGITAL ABILITIES AND DIGITAL LEARNING STYLES OF MY STUDENTS

DIGITAL ABILITIES AND DIGITAL LEARNING STYLES OF MY STUDENTS

There is no doubt that students these days have changed so much that (Prenskey, 2001) described them as “Digital Natives” and (Dede, 2010) called them “Millenia learners” because of their unparalleled exposure to all forms of technology and all forms of media, this exposure according to many experts has changed the way they access, consume and use information which is showing no sign of slowing down. Because of this exposure, the way students learn and use information has radically changed and is causing a sort of disconnect between students and their teachers that are mostly using styles that are designed for students before the age of technology.

21st Century Partnership (P21)

PARTNERSHIP FOR 21ST CENTURY SKILLS

The Partnership for the 21st century Skills represents national organization that advocates for the readiness of students all over the United States. It was a pleasant surprise for me to see such a very strong movement initiating, canvassing and mobilising organizations, government leaders, education departments and individuals to embrace and to ensure that every student is given a chance to develop and acquire the necessary skills that are needed for any individual to become a useful member of the society and compete in the 21st century economy. The group’s website is inviting, user-friendly, robust, awash with valuable resources and information that many organizations and individual will find very useful.

Using blog in My Classroom

Using Blog in my Classroom:
I consider blogging to be a veritable tool that can really engage students in reflective and creative writing. Students love it when they can lay claim to any product as their handiwork. I can see the smile on my students’ faces when they make presentation in the class to their classmates and receive a zeal of approval and applause at the end of their presentations, they love the accolade, now I just begin to wonder how much more they will love it when they know that, millions around the globe can see, view, and even comment on their work on line! Students will put in their best when they know that they have real live audience, not only their peers around the world, but even experts, authors and publishers are reading their messages and contribution the body of knowledge, they will want to put their best “foot” forward. Marshal Mcluhan talked about global village, students will view the interaction with the global village as a real challenge and opportunity to be at their best, and show the world what they can do.

Using Technology to do different things.

The idea of this blog is to put a question out there, how can we use educational technology to do different things in the classroom?
I like to know from the general public. We use technology widely in our day to day lives, but things are different in educational setting, the use of technology is not as innovative as it should be, many educators are not buying in as it should be. When we go to our family doctors, we expect to be diagnosed with state of the art technology, yet, George Washington will still feel at home in many classroom today, WHY?

Technology and human beings.

Have you ever even contemplated what life will be like without all the conveniences we enjoy today? Better still, have you ever thought what life was like in those days when people lived without all the conveniences we take for granted today? I just imagined how difficult it would be be to make a living then. It must be very hard. Now think about the quality of life then, and try to reflect on how people rely on technology today, what will be our collective fate, should technology failed?