Through the Educause website, I found the following article that will provide a great basis for describing the need for integrated technology. I have highlighted the key points - that which clearly supports the current mission.
Other writers and researchers have focused on the idea that while alone, in front of a computer, a student may find more of a voice that they would in the classroom. That surely describes me as a sophomore who was embarrassed by how much I loved my literature studies. And this private, cyber-public participation does not preclude physical-public participation. In fact, becoming comfortable with one's voice via technology may effectively, if slowly, build a shy student's confidence.
Sarah Robbins-Bell writes
"Today’s moderately tech-savvy student is accustomed to having a voice. Social networks (e.g., Facebook), instant messaging, blogs, and virtual worlds not only allow conversation but rely on it. After all, what would a service like YouTube or Digg look like if no one contributed content and no one commented? Instead, these popular social media services feature high levels of participation, numerous contributions and discussions, and even detailed debates.
We know that the demographics of Facebook, Digg, Fark, and World of Warcraft are the same as the general demographics of college/university students. So, why don’t we see the same levels of participation in the social media that are used in the classroom (typically, learning management systems) as are evident in the social media that students engage in voluntarily? I think the problem is that our pedagogy often isn’t ready for an increase in conversation."
Robbins-Bell goes on to explain that part of what makes online learning so compelling is the element of constant development in space and time that occurs in games, on social networking sites, etc. Young people become devoted to these 21st century endeavors, she posits, because they must do so if they wish to keep up with what is going on. The world keeps developing and evolving around them, and if they fail to check in, they become lost, irrelevant, late, confused.
Monday, October 13, 2008
STEM and 21st Century Skills
At the beginning of this placement, I was bothered by the ubiquitousness of STEM - as a term, as a concept, as the seeming superstar of education from elementary school through higher ed. I was bothered because, I realize now, in Ohio it seems as though STEM is being used interchangeably with the concept of "21st Century Skills".
The two are different. 21st Century skills are not a separate entity from STEM; science, technology, and math skills are fundamental elements of a successful 21st century education, which encompasses global awareness, competence in communication, strong critical thinking, effective writing, and acute analytical and synthetic skills. But STEM is becoming a monolith in education talk, and I fear that it threatens to invalidate anything - any program, any path of study - that is not immediately or obviously STEM related.
See, for example, the following excerpt from the Ohio STEM Learning Network:
"The goal of a STEM focused curriculum is to drive STEM-literacy for all students as they prepare for college, work and effective citizenship. After entering a STEM school, many students have already made the decision to move on to careers in the rapidly evolving technology and science sectors, two areas where American industry struggles to keep in step with foreign competition. STEM schools are working hard to educate the future leaders and innovators of America."
Well, so are small liberal arts colleges, independant colleges and non-STEM disciplines in any institution of learning. This school is not in a position to become a STEM school, but it can be a school that remains diverse in its focus as it prepares graduates who posess strong 21st century skills. If schools genuinely adopt such a skill base and creatively integrate this base into all disciplines, graduates will be intellectually flexible, professionally capable, and therefore economically relevant - as "future leaders and innovators of America" in many ways.
The two are different. 21st Century skills are not a separate entity from STEM; science, technology, and math skills are fundamental elements of a successful 21st century education, which encompasses global awareness, competence in communication, strong critical thinking, effective writing, and acute analytical and synthetic skills. But STEM is becoming a monolith in education talk, and I fear that it threatens to invalidate anything - any program, any path of study - that is not immediately or obviously STEM related.
See, for example, the following excerpt from the Ohio STEM Learning Network:
"The goal of a STEM focused curriculum is to drive STEM-literacy for all students as they prepare for college, work and effective citizenship. After entering a STEM school, many students have already made the decision to move on to careers in the rapidly evolving technology and science sectors, two areas where American industry struggles to keep in step with foreign competition. STEM schools are working hard to educate the future leaders and innovators of America."
Well, so are small liberal arts colleges, independant colleges and non-STEM disciplines in any institution of learning. This school is not in a position to become a STEM school, but it can be a school that remains diverse in its focus as it prepares graduates who posess strong 21st century skills. If schools genuinely adopt such a skill base and creatively integrate this base into all disciplines, graduates will be intellectually flexible, professionally capable, and therefore economically relevant - as "future leaders and innovators of America" in many ways.
20th century vs 21st century classrooms
Abilene Christian University published a useful comparsion of the 20th century education model
to the 21st century educational model. In the 20th century, education adn pedegogical approach focused on hierarchy, specialization, and formalized interaction. The teacher was the authority in his or her particular subject. The classroom, the textbook and/or the lecturer was the locus of academic progress and process. However, in the 21st century, barriers are broken. Just as we in Northeast Ohio hear about the push towards economic and political regionalism, just as we in America feel the effects of globalized economies and cultures - both of which necessitate and reflect a loss of rigid individualism, so it is in academia.
The ACU website delineated several concepts regarding 21st century learning. The teachers must now focus on his.her mentoring role, and be a guide to students who are actively engaged in inquiry, discovery, exploration and critical sysnthesis of the wealth of information available to them. The classroom is no longer the locus of learning; rather, the student, who is "connected", directs class content and creates classroom learning paths.
to the 21st century educational model. In the 20th century, education adn pedegogical approach focused on hierarchy, specialization, and formalized interaction. The teacher was the authority in his or her particular subject. The classroom, the textbook and/or the lecturer was the locus of academic progress and process. However, in the 21st century, barriers are broken. Just as we in Northeast Ohio hear about the push towards economic and political regionalism, just as we in America feel the effects of globalized economies and cultures - both of which necessitate and reflect a loss of rigid individualism, so it is in academia.
The ACU website delineated several concepts regarding 21st century learning. The teachers must now focus on his.her mentoring role, and be a guide to students who are actively engaged in inquiry, discovery, exploration and critical sysnthesis of the wealth of information available to them. The classroom is no longer the locus of learning; rather, the student, who is "connected", directs class content and creates classroom learning paths.
From The International Society for Technology in Education
The National Educational Technology Standards for Students offer a technology-centered outline for what our 21st century students need to learn and apply. This list provides details for enhancing the 21st century skill set with technology.
Of equal importance are the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers, which offer a basic framework for planning professional development goals and assessing professional development success.
Of equal importance are the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers, which offer a basic framework for planning professional development goals and assessing professional development success.
Best Practices in 21st Century Skills
- Using Wikis as Electronic Portfolios for collaborative work employ Web 2.0 capabilities in the service of knowledge creatioon and knowledge expression produced from group work
- Personal e-Portfolios developed either throughout one course or - perhaps more compelling - throughout the college experience allow a student to maintain a living document of academic progress, findings, research. reflections and growth. This could be useful in a job search, and, for Graduate students in particular, would serve as a timeless snapshot of graduate work/thought/research/curiosity/process/intellectual fire!
- 3D Virtual Environments (Second Life, Active Worlds, Central Grid, Kaneva, Twinity, CyberNet Worlds, The Palace, Furcadia, and Project DarkStar) are at the cutting edge of classroom technology.
- Faculty "grad seminar" style of professional development for faculty supports professionalism and encourages enthousiasm for exploring new technologies while engaging faculty in intellectual growth
- The ChemCollective offers free online resources for teaching and learning Chemistry
- The TLT Group lists ideas for encouraging student to student collaboration using technology, including web quests, discussion boards, and group web page construction.
- The TLT Group also points out that technology integration in the classroom allows instructors to create a more inclusive or diverse learning environment, one that, by virtue of multifaceted presentation, is perhpas more effective at engaging all students
- Creating a Ning site for faculty members or for Graduate classes - one can set up a social networking site that is limited to certain participants - a sort of Facebook with academic perameters and only open to students/faculty here
- From Classroom 2.0, educators offer ideas about the Web 2.0 tools that they use in the classroom, inlcuding Google Notebook, Google Reader, Del.icio.us, podcasting, wikispaces and more
Professional Development for 21st century Skills- technology
- The Partnership for 21st Century Skills published an e-paper outlining basic strategies and benchmarks for professional development . This paper refers to P16 educators, and often indicates a focus on teacher training. However, the basics are useful.
- From Digital Learning Environments : ideas on grant seeking and professional development planning
- Professional Development offered in Missouri by eMINTS (the instructional model focuses on connecting inquiry, community, high quality lesson design, technology and evaluation)
- Alan McCord offers the followng consideration: While formal training can improve faculty attitudes toward technology, it is most effective in practical terms when comprehensively delivered and accompanied by incentives (Gilmore 1998). For this reason an understanding of what motivates faculty to use online instruction as well as what inhibits such use should inform a training protocol. Maguire (2005) identifies three forms of motivation that influence faculty in their decisions regarding the use of online teaching resources:
- Intrinsic motivators involve personal attitudes affecting technology adoption.
- Extrinsic motivators incorporate incentives such as promotion, tenure, and opportunities for collaboration with other faculty.
- Institutional motivators appeal to potential users by means of the support, compensation, release time, and recognition made available by the university.
While Maguire (Maguire, L. 2005. Literature review—Faculty participation in online distance education: Barriers and motivators. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration 8) argues that positive extrinsic and institutional motivators may outweigh negative intrinsic motivators, she also notes that developers of online programs should understand that faculty may experience extrinsic and institutional motivation as a type of peer pressure. If reluctant faculty members feel compelled to incorporate technology, they might experience less satisfaction with their instructional experience and higher rates of burnout (Beam and Kim 2002). Special care should be taken to provide additional support to faculty who participate in online teaching because of a perceived pressure to participate(This article was originally published in Innovate (http://www.innovateonline.info/) as McCord, A. 2006. Staffing and supporting a new online initiative. Innovate 3 (2). http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=406 (accessed October 13, 2008). - 21st Century Connections has reconceptualized (in an exciting way!) what the role of the 21st century educator is, namely, a visonary, a leader, an adaptor, a learner, and a risk taker.
New learning styles for 21st century students
From "Transforming Learning for the 21st Century: An Economic Imperative",
Chris Dede, Harvard University
Spence Korte, Learning, Leading & Technology
Robert Nelson, Learning, Leading & Technology
Gil Valdez, Learning Point Associates
David J. Ward, Northstar Economics
The authors discuss innovative learning technologies that transcend traditional lecture models in order to engage students
As computers and telecommunications continue to evolve, new forms of "neomillennial" learning styles are emerging. Research on sophisticated interactive media suggests that the following may emerge as cross-age learning styles (Dede, 2005b):
• Fluency in multiple media, valuing each for the types of communication, activities, experiences, and expressions it empowers
• Learning based on collectively seeking, sieving, and synthesizing experiences rather than individually locating and absorbing information from some single best source
• Active learning based on experience (real and simulated) that includes frequent opportunities for reflection
• Expression through nonlinear, associational webs of representations rather than linear "stories" (e.g., authoring a simulation and a Web page to express understanding rather than a paper)
• Codesign of learning experiences personalized to individual needs and preferences
These trends have a variety of implications for how students can acquire 21st century knowledge and skills through pedagogies and media that engage their interests, build on strengths from their leisure activities outside of school, and speak to their learning styles.
Chris Dede, Harvard University
Spence Korte, Learning, Leading & Technology
Robert Nelson, Learning, Leading & Technology
Gil Valdez, Learning Point Associates
David J. Ward, Northstar Economics
The authors discuss innovative learning technologies that transcend traditional lecture models in order to engage students
As computers and telecommunications continue to evolve, new forms of "neomillennial" learning styles are emerging. Research on sophisticated interactive media suggests that the following may emerge as cross-age learning styles (Dede, 2005b):
• Fluency in multiple media, valuing each for the types of communication, activities, experiences, and expressions it empowers
• Learning based on collectively seeking, sieving, and synthesizing experiences rather than individually locating and absorbing information from some single best source
• Active learning based on experience (real and simulated) that includes frequent opportunities for reflection
• Expression through nonlinear, associational webs of representations rather than linear "stories" (e.g., authoring a simulation and a Web page to express understanding rather than a paper)
• Codesign of learning experiences personalized to individual needs and preferences
These trends have a variety of implications for how students can acquire 21st century knowledge and skills through pedagogies and media that engage their interests, build on strengths from their leisure activities outside of school, and speak to their learning styles.
From the Chronicle of Higher Education, "Colleges Struggle to Keep 'Smart' Classrooms Up to Date"
We have to foreground and sustain professional dvelopment.
It is important to focus on the human element of technology in the classroom, not the hardware aspect of technology in the classroom. It appears that one of the first needs identified by people who want to incorporate more technology into teaching is hardware. This is a one shot, installation and-it's-done mentality that essentially is a set up for longer term failure. Technology needs grow quickly, and that which is considered "cutting edge" changes quickly....People need to be able to keep up.
We have to foreground and sustain professional dvelopment.
It is important to focus on the human element of technology in the classroom, not the hardware aspect of technology in the classroom. It appears that one of the first needs identified by people who want to incorporate more technology into teaching is hardware. This is a one shot, installation and-it's-done mentality that essentially is a set up for longer term failure. Technology needs grow quickly, and that which is considered "cutting edge" changes quickly....People need to be able to keep up.
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