Redefining Education

Redefining Education

21st Century Learning-Why Change?

21^st Century Learning – Why Change??

Why teaching needs to change?

Here's why-- you change for the same reason you went into teaching in the first place. You change because, as a teacher, what you do for a living was never just a job- but more of a mission. You change because you are willing to do whatever it takes to make a significant difference in the lives of the students you teach.

Why change? You change because of all the people in the world- teachers really do understand the value of being a lifelong learner.

Why change? Because you made the decision when you first became a teacher to do something that was larger than life and more meaningful than money, recognition, and status. You became a teacher because of change-- the changes in the world you wanted to make one kid at a time. You change because teachers always want to do what is right-- simply because it *is* the right thing to do and you understand the need to model for others so they can do what is right as well.

You change because the world has changed and you know that not challenging the status quo is the riskiest thing you can do at this point. You change because you love learning and you love children and you know they need you to lead the way in this fast paced changing world and to do that you have to find your own way first. That is why you and they should change.

Pedagogy - is the art or science of being a teacher. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction.

DCA must continue to recognize and embrace the need for using different teaching pedagogy. The tools that we have placed in our students hands will require us to think differently and incorporate different methods in some of our classes. Requiring students to take responsibility for their own learning is our goal and we must guide them in this process. Many of them will resist this change in style, the thinking that they must bring to the classroom will be different than previously used. I anticipate some parent resistance to this change in style. They are only familiar with what they experienced. Continuing with our old pedagogy will be a disservice to our students.

Feb 26, 2009

21st Century Skills Wiki

1. How do we best prepare our young people to succeed in the 21st century.
Check out this downloadable guide.
2. Watch this youtube "Did you Know 2.0"
3. Change we Must

Why Laptops?

The Maine Department of Education started an initiative in the fall of 2002 to place laptops in the hands of all seventh graders. This is the introduction to a task force report assembled by the state government on behalf of the laptop program. I will quote it in its entirety. I say amen!
"We live in a world that is increasingly complex and where change is increasingly rampant. Driving much of this complexity and change are new concepts and a new economy based on powerful, ubiquitous computer technology linked to the Internet.
Twenty years ago, personal computers were a relative novelty. Today, two thirds of Maine workers use computers in their workplace. Ten years ago the internet as we know it did not exist; today it drives communication, information, entertainment, and the fortunes of stock market portfolios. From the complex to the mundane in a thousand small and sometimes unnoticed ways, computer technology has permeated our economy and changed our daily lives. Some uses of electronic technology are so ubiquitous they are unnoticed-nearly all of us use ATM machines for routine banking transactions, for example. Many newsletters and bulletins are already beginning to transition to electronic-only distribution. Increasingly, examinations for graduate school and for various professional licensing requirements are on-line--some exclusively on-line. The technological transformation is not limited to "high-tech" businesses; mainline manufacturing, farming, service and retaile industries are increasingly harnessing computer technology to improve processes, boost productivity, and innovate new approaches to stay competitive.
Our schools are challenged to prepare young people to navigate and prosper in this world, with technology as an ally rather than an obstacle. The challenge is familiar, but the imperative is new: we must prepare young people to thrive in a world that doesn’t exist yet, to grapple with problems and construct new knowledge which is barely visible to us today. It is no longer adequate to prepare some of our young people to high levels of learning and technological literacy; we must prepare all for the demands of a world in which workers and citizens will be required to use and create knowledge, and embrace technology as a powerful tool to do so.
If technology is a challenge for our educational system, it is also part of the solution. To move all students to high levels of learning and technological literacy, all students will need access to technology when and where it can be most effectively incorporated into learning. With the guidance of good teachers with technological facility, computer technology and the Internet can provide students with a pipeline to explore real world concepts, interact with real world experts, and analyze and solve real world problems. Computers and the Internet offer the potential to keep classroom resources and materials current with the contemporary world to an extent that is unprecedented. Computer technology also offers opportunities for self-directed, personalized learning projects that can tailor the curriculum to student interest and engagement, and allow teachers to facilitate active students learning rather than merely the rote transfer of information."
(Task Force on Maine’s Learning Technology Endowment, 2001, p. i).

The Laptop Experience

We are continuously striving to fulfill our mission: "Donelson Christian Academy will serve Christ by assisting parents in providing their children a quality education with a college-preparatory curriculum ...." The preparation of our students for an ever-changing future and eventual workplace cannot adequately be accomplished without including technology training. The ability of the new college graduate to be able to solve problems on a grand scale without large amounts of supervisory intervention is the new requirement of the age. If you cannot do this, the professsional world will leave you behind. Our ability to change the way we educate and prepare our students will help determine how successful they are in this new work environment.
The integration of laptops into our classrooms as the eventual tool of choice will allow us to better prepare them for this daunting task. The ability to collaborate with peers without borders will help prepare our students to work in this different type of work force. Learning how to find information, determine its authenticity, and then dissect it into parts for decision making will bring confidence to the new professional in their abilities to accomplish the new challenges they face each day.