Wired for Learning

Google, Skype, My Space, You Tube, Twitter, Wikis, voice threads and the list goes on. How did our students become so tech-savvy? Were they born that way? Sometimes it seems so. Today's students certainly know their way around the digital world, but are often forced to "power-down" at school.

The ability to use supportive technologies for inquiry- and problem-based learning is a critical skill for 21st century learners. As a result, critical literacies have been redefined. Basic literacy skills of decoding, predicting, and summarizing are not sufficient for today's students. Instead, students must become critical consumers of information from multiple sources, questioning the contexts, purposes, biases, and applications.

As a result, today's classrooms must be "elastic," going beyond the confining walls of physical space. Today's classroom environments must integrate virtual learning experiences, on-line learning, and cyberspace learning communities.

If you are like me, with one foot in the twentieth century and another foot in the twenty-first century, this requires a reality check (not to mention the acquisition of new skills and new ways of thinking). If you dare to join me on this digital learning journey, check out the links below.


Click here for a digital version of Bloom's Taxonomy (I LOVE this!)

Click here for Larry Ferlazzo's list of Top Tools for Learning (You have to look at this!)

Click here to learn more about 21st century skills

See you in cyberspace!
Cheryl

Try TeacherTube

Originally published in Winter 2009 as a T4 (Tanny's Tuesday Tech Tip)

TEACHERTUBE

2009 marks the 2-year anniversary of TeacherTube as an online community for sharing instructional videos. TeacherTube was the brainchild of Jason Smith, a veteran educator. It provides free videos & professional development with teachers teaching teachers.

With TeacherTube, you can:

• Browse hundreds of videos uploaded by teachers around the globe.
• Upload Support Files and attach them to your lesson plans.
• Save your favorite videos and create playlists.
  

Here are links to some TeacherTube videos I’ve recently viewed:

Dr. Skateboard teaches about simple machines

50 States & Capitals Cartoon Song

Abraham Lincoln reads the Gettysburg Address

Try it out! Make TeacherTube part of your weekly planning for engaging classroom instruction!

Tanny

Sites We Like

This summer I'm immersing myself in DIY professional development, reading and learning as much as I can about Web 2.0, social media, and other technologies for K-12 teaching and learning. I've opened a Twitter account to create my own Professional Learning Network, following teachers, admins, education experts, and writers from around the globe. Still learning. And eager to share with our westcler team.

For starters, let me introduce you to Free Tech 4 Teachers, an extraordinary site by real-life Maine social studies teacher, Richard Byrne, that chronicles all sorts of technology for you to examine, explore...and use in your classroom. What I like best (besides that it's all FREE) is that each post is short and simple and includes classroom applications and related sites. Subscribe, RSS, or bookmark Free Tech 4 Teachers.

M.E.