There Is Just So Much!!!

How would you define web 2.0?

• The most important aspect of the definition would have to tie into the notion that information is now available to everyone. It seems to be the very essence of what is driving the Web 2.0 "movement". No longer is there one small group of people who is privileged enough to find answers. Today, people can ask their questions to a worldwide audience and learn from those who are willing to collaborate. To me, Web 2.0 means sharing information and taking control of your knowledge base.

What three important things have you found out about 21st Century learners?

• The most important thing is that they are literally wired differently than we are. I am only 29, but I did not grow up in the same world as my students. I did not email or use a cell phone until I was in college. I even remember t.v. before remote controls (albeit, vaguely!). Being the human beings that we are, it is so tempting for teachers to fall into the habits that work the best for them. More often than not, those habits were formed because of our own learning strategies. Unfortunately, we have 20 students who have now been proven to learn differently than we did.



• I've learned that they face different challenges. When I was graduating from college, America was at the top of its game. Don't get me wrong. I am ridiculously patriotic and believe that we live in the greatest country in the world. However, I will tell you that my peers and I did not feel any pressure from China and India as we pictured our prosperous futures. Watching those YouTube videos makes me realize that we have to equip our students with every advantage possible.



• And on that note, I have learned that the advantages we must give them are the higher-level thinking tools. I am still trying to figure out exactly how I view this. I can't seem to allow myself to proclaim that facts are unimportant. A lover of history, I strongly believe that it is important to understand what this country went through in its development. People SHOULD know that we have a bicameral congress. However, they can use their iPhone to find out the number of congressman in less than a minute. So, is that what we should be spending our school time on? I don't know... But I do know that we must challenge them to find a new and unique way to display this information. Or, perhaps, use the facts to draw conclusions about time period in our nation's history instead of just filling in the blanks on a test.

Name some 21st Century skills and which ones do you think are most important?

• The skills I had the most interest in were found on the Learning and Innovation Skills tab. Creativity & Innovation, Critical Thinking & Problem Solving, and Communication & Collaboration are the skills that seem the most important to me. By the age of 10, so many of my students are already programmed to come to me the instant they experience any degree of confusion. Instead of breaking down a problem or project by beginning with the information that they do have, they notice only the information they are lacking while making no attempt to find it on their own. No employer wants a worker who lacks self-direction. What will separate the successful from the unsuccessful will be their ability to find a solution where one does not exist. I believe that the 3 pairs of skills listed above are intertwined. You cannot be a problem solver without creativity. Nor will you produce results without the ability to communicate your thinking. I don't think that one of those skills is more important that the other.

Read this article and think about the assignments and assessment tools you have been using? Are you assessing 21st century skills? If so, what has worked well for you in this area? If not, what unit could you most easily change to begin to move your learners to acquiring information that will be remembered long after the test is over.

• As a fourth grade teacher, I have the luxury of not having to have averages. The only tests we administer are spelling tests and Wordly Wise tests. The rest of our assessments are project-based. Most of our projects create opportunities for the students to write about a time period or subject creatively and informatively. While I will say that I look for their ability to recreate a believable story that fits the time period, I don't know if I am truly engaging their HOTS. There is a difficult balance to be met with 10-year-olds. On one hand, they need clear directions to be able to independently work through a project. Conversely, I sometimes wonder if I am assessing their ability to follow directions instead of what they actually pulled from the experience. I remember one of my students seeing her Colonial book laying out as an example. She had to go and see if it was hers because she couldn't remember what colony she had researched. I remember feeling so defeated. She didn't even remember the name, and we had spent almost 2 months on that project!
  


• This is the most challenging part of integrating Web 2.0 applications into my instruction. I wholeheartedly believe in the value of these tools. I also strongly believe in the enormous benefits. I have yet to wrap my brain around how I will be able to create directions and rubrics that will guide my students through a project without completing it for them. If there isn't some component of openness, then how will they be using HOTS?