My head of school said, "Read this."(see note 1 below) One more article to add to the list, but this one hooked me for two reasons -- maybe three:
1) It feels great when a head of school hands me an article which validates my being, beliefs, and views. Young teachers are no more likely than more experienced teachers to integrate technology. I had been trying to convince administrators of this for years. Now this survey of 1000 teachers and administrators confirmed what I had seen all these years.
Young teachers just out of school are NOT any more likely to successfully integrate technology tools into their lessons than more seasoned teachers. Just because they tweet, text, and friend regularly doesn't mean they understand the power of using web 2.0 tools to collaborate, create, and think critically in the cloud.
2) One of the closing calls to action, "walk the walk," also resonated deeply with my own view. Each of us is responsible for working toward better integration of technology tools. If I am not modeling the behavior I expect, how can I expect anything more from my peers? How is that fair?
It has taken me two years to find a way to show the third grade teachers some true benefits of using a Google doc in a way that makes sense to them -- not just me (see video). It has taken as long to create an Animoto with a purpose -- a prompt for a writing project. I'm reluctant to say how long I've been holding out on Voicethread and in using Smart-Notebook. How can I expect teachers to experiment any more eagerly than I am experimenting?
helping each other (students, teachers, intelligent use of these 21st century skills (see list below).
3) A list of 21st Century Skills.
Is this list of21st Century Skills THE list? Can we call it the 12 commandments of 21st century
• teaching and learning?
• accountability
• collaboration
• communication
• creativity
• critical thinking
• ethics
• global awareness
• innovation
• leadership
• problem solving
• productivity
• self-direction
(NOTE 1)
The article added to my reading stack was "Educators, Technology and 21st Century Skills: Dispelling the Five Myths." It is a summary of a survey published by Walden University. The Survey asked 1000 educators and administrators to report about their own experiences regarding the value of technology and it's effects on student learning and engagement.
