Saturday, May 5, 2012

Catalysts For 21st Century Learning

Too often, educational technology is more about the technology than about education.  This is unfortunate because technology can be a powerful catalyst in the pursuit of educational progress.  Here are two ways that technology can assist the classroom purpose.
  • Learning Profiles (ePortfolios): With the wide range of media available to students today, there is little excuse for not having students electronically create, sort, store, and present examples of and reflections of their learning. Google Sites is a fantastic tool for this! As part of Google Apps, Google Sites allows users to generate their own web pages. These pages can be kept private or shared in a variety of ways, depending on the goals and security needs of the user. Perhaps best of all, Learning Profiles can take on some of the features of Facebook profiles pages. Students can upload photos (or themselves and/or projects) and other files. They can also author their own blogs within the moderately protected environment of a Google Apps School District Account (helpful for districts that are required to archive and limit access to student content). To ramp up the interactive aspects of this, students can share their Learning Profiles with their teacher(s) and in some cases with each other (again mimicking the familiar format of Facebook that is so much a part of adolescent life these days). It is even possible for students to view and comment on each other's Learning Profiles. Finally, students can use their Learning Profiles as a resource to drive parent conferences at any point in the year. With students learning all over the map in a Mass Customized Learning classroom, this individualized tool makes the record keeping, reflection, sharing, and feedback of the 21st century classroom more practical. (Note: I am in the early stages of implementing this with my students. I'm hoping to have Learning Profiles fully implemented in the fall!)
  • Classroom Management Software: Useful tools like Moodle and Studywiz are changing the way some teachers and students do business in the 21st century. These software packages allow teachers and students to deliver and receive content in a variety of forms. As a simple example, a teacher can post a document for students to read and an assignment for student response. Students respond electronically and then receive prompt feedback from a teacher responding to their response, and the process of learning continues. Videos, documents, links to resources, audio files, embedded games, models, and more can all be delivered using Moodle or Studywiz. Perhaps, "delivered" is even too limiting of a term.  This content is not delivered like a worksheet from a teacher; rather, it is on demand whenever the student needs it. Also, as this use grows, so do the available options. The makers of Infinite Campus, a widely used grade reporting software package, have introduced advancements that now allow students to submit content. (Note: This software has been one of the keys to making Standards Based and Mass Customized Learning a practical reality in my classroom.)

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