Check out this downloadable guide.
2. Watch this youtube "Did you Know 2.0"
3. Change we Must
Friday, September 7, 2007
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
Check out this downloadable guide.
2. Watch this youtube "Did you Know 2.0"
3. Change we Must
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
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).
"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).
Thursday, February 15, 2007
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.
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.
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