What Exactly ARE 21st Century Skills?

We read about it. We hear about it. The Senate has a bill that supports it. But, what exactly ARE 21^st Century Skills?

Incorporating the following into the curriculum delivers 21^st Century Skills…

· INTEGRATING CORE SUBJECTS & 21st CENTURY THEMES

· LEARNING AND INNOVATION SKILLS

· CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING

· COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION

· INFORMATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY SKILLS

· INFORMATION LITERACY

· MEDIA LITERACY

· ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) LITERACY

· LIFE AND CAREER SKILLS

· FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY

· INITIATIVE AND SELF-DIRECTION

· SOCIAL AND CROSS-CULTURAL SKILLS

· PRODUCTIVITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

· LEADERSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY

To find a full explanation of this framework, take a look at this student outcomes white paper online. Visual Learner? Watch this short video which gives a great, generic overview of the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills and how/where to find additional information on their site.

It is great to know our government is on board with education reform and looking ahead to provide adequate support to our classrooms. As quoted in eSchoolNews.com, Shelley Pasnik, director of the Education Development Center's Center for Children and Technology states "The purpose of the 21st Skills Incentive Funds Act is to offer competitive grants from the Department of Education for states willing to invest in education reform. She sums up the senate’s support well. Be sure to take a look at the actual bill as posted by the Library of Congress.

Want more in-depth information? Check out this .pdf from the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills.

It's A Zoo Out There!

Studying animals and their habitats, life cycles, characteristics, or anything even remotely related? With the state of the economy, you may not have the classroom funds to visit the zoo but there is a way to bring the zoo to your room!

Check out the Smithsonian National Zoo at http://nationalzoo.si.edu/default.cfm and find some awesome resources. Yes, resources!

There are many valuable tools found at http://nationalzoo.si.edu/education/?hpout=education_link&xtr= that provide many starting points and great curriculum add-ons.

Browse through the list of:

·         Free Curriculum Guides

·         Explorer Kits (fee-based)

·         Homework Helper

·         Research Articles and Podcasts

·         Online Habitat Education Program

·         Fact Sheets

·         Live Animal Web Cams

·         Educator’s Newsletter

...and much more!

Like the info you found here? If so, go a step further and check out what I believe to be the information mecca of the United States… The Smithsonian Institution! Or, go straight to theSmithsonian Educator section where they help you prepare, plan, and teach. What can you expect from this site…. Lesson plans and resources aligned with the NC Standard Course of Study.

Lights! Camera! Action!

Every student in your class can be a film producer. Yes, every student. Questions you may ask yourself…

Why would I want them to produce a film?

What good would it do?

How would that even fit into my curriculum?

Which types of equipment, tools and resources would I need to make it happen?

When would I have time to add this type of project into my curriculum?

All very good questions! Here are some answers!

• Choose a unit, (goal/objective) based within the NC Standard Course of Study
  
• Gather digital cameras or Flip Cameras from your Media Center and/or teachers at your school
  
• Teach the lesson as you normally would...
• At the end of the lesson, have the students use the camera to shoot footage depicting their perspective of the lesson - showing you (visually) what they have learned!
  
• Allow them class time for making/producing the video. Be sure to find out which students have access to cameras at home!
• Have the students upload the video footage into Windows Movie Maker (or video-editing software of your choice) to make any necessary edits, add text, music, narration, etc.
  
• Decide on a red-carpet “Premiere” Day and showcase each of the students' documentaries!
  
• Check out these resources to help your students along the way... Roadmaps andCharacteristics. These informational links are courtesy of Digital Documentaries.

Want a specific example?

• Eighth Grade: Social Studies
• Competency Goal 1 – Objective 1.01: Assess the impact of geography on the settlement and developing economy of the Carolina colony

What footage could your students shoot that would provide distinct visuals for Objective 1.01 of the NC Standard Course of Study within Social Studies?

What happened with this lesson? Simple! Your curriculum didn’t change, but you added 21st Century Learning Skills into the mix. Did the students seem to enjoy learning? My guess is a resounding yes!

Don’t teach Social Studies? This idea of allowing video/camera footage to tell a story works across the curriculum!

Don’t stop with documentaries! Try PSAs, commercials or even movie trailers! Movie trailer video footage or posters are a great way to showcase a required historical reading/text.

Not sure how to use a Flip Camera or Windows Movie Maker? Contact us! We'll be happy to show you how!

Tech Help

Technology is not JUST for fun. Nor is it only intended to connect us through networks, engage us with multimedia and great visuals or indulge us with shortcuts that are efficient and productive. Now, don’t get me wrong, (or get it twisted) - those things are pretty awesome. But, I want you to know that technology can also truly serve up some life-changing moments.

Equality. We all know what it is… everybody should have the same things and access. Right? Right! How does that apply to technology in education? Equality is key, but when dealing with student disabilities, be sure your chosen technology is the right fit.

According to the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-407), “an assistive technology means any item, piece of equipment, or product/system, whether acquired commercially, off-the-shelf, modified or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.”

What can assistive technology hardware or software look like in the classroom?

- Talking/Large Print Web Browsers
- Audio Books
- Magnification Hardware (or Software for your Desktop)
- Speech-to-Text software
- Text-to-Speech software
- Talking Calculators
- Computer-Assisted Captioning
- Alternative Keyboards
- Amplification Systems
- Page Turners
- Touch Screens
- Electronic Pointing Devices
- Refreshable Braille displays
- Light Signal Alerts
- On-Screen Keyboards (or Keyboards that have Speech Capabilities)

… This list could literally go on and on because it is so adaptive and dependent upon the students’ particular disability.

If you have any students that can benefit from some type of assistive technology within your classroom, please let us know. We are happy to come up with customized solutions on how to best fit the needs of your students using technology! Our district also has an EC department that can work hand-in-hand with us in determining your students’ particular needs. The incorporation of technology within your classroom should equal success for ALL of your students.

Want to do more research on your own? Check out these websites:

The Alliance for Technology Access
http://www.ataccess.org/

Discovery Education: Special Education Resources
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/edspec.html

Lesson 25 Assistive Technology (Look at what other teachers are doing!)
http://www.k12.hi.us/~tethree/00-01/content/lesson25.htm

Introduction to Assistive Technology
http://atto.buffalo.edu/registered/ATBasics/Foundation/intro/index.php

Education World: Assistive Technology
http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/tech/tech086.shtml

Assistive Technology Website Directory
http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/education/at.html

Simple, yet Great Sites - Vol. 1

Sometimes - we all run across websites we think are simply great. They can be very simplistic in nature but achieve huge things! Well... here are 5 that I want to share with you.

1- http://www.rhymezone.com/

Writing poetry? Stuck on a word that rhymes with "__" Check out this site... it adds to your creative juices by quickly giving you rhyming words!

2 - http://www.ocrterminal.com/

Need to convert scanned images or .pdf's into editable text? This online optical character recognition site gives you that ability!

3- http://www.wdl.org/en/

Need to find some historical maps or documents within a certain time period, in ANY country? This site is the place!

4- http://www.climate-charts.com/World-Climate-Index-Map.html

Want to know about the climate in ANY region of the world. This user-friendly site gives you climate information quickly!

5- http://langid.net/

Trying to figure out which language you are looking at? This website allows you to paste in the text and it instantly recognizes what foreign language the text is written.

Imagination at Work

Imagination. Webster defines it as “The act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality.”

Personally, I define imagination as the ability to incorporate personal perspectives, ideas, and visuals to change or impact a goal, topic or thing CREATIVELY. Overall, using the imagination causes impact to output – whether idealistically-speaking or methodologically-speaking.

So, the million-dollar question? How can teachers allow imagination to make a difference right in the classroom? Lots of ways…. And it is easier than you may initially think.

From the Unified Schedule Workshop last Friday, Professor J. Allen Queen from UNCC made some interesting comments that tie in nicely with this post

• Every lesson should never be taught the same way twice
  
• With your lessons, make sure the students are interacting and experimenting
  
• Teachers should focus on student learning over teaching!
  
• There should be an acceptance for change and desire for future refinement
  

How does imagination go hand-in-hand with these?

Never teaching a lesson the same way means tailoring the lesson to the personality of each class! Making the lessons more interactive/experimental, by default can be geared towards success with the integration of 21^st century skills. Also, with the incorporation of technology-based projects, learning-based activities, etc. the lessons given by teachers will automatically be/become interactive. When students are allowed to use their imagination, their finished products/projects will be focused on and produced from different types of student learning!

How does all of this even come into play? The teacher must, I repeat, MUST be willing to have an open mind-set for change in the classroom. This is the crucial first step. An open mind will allow teachers to see the individual personalities of each of their classes, each period of each day. An open mind will allow teachers to reconstruct their lessons in a way that allows for more interaction and less lecture. Open-minded teachers will look less at themselves as presenters and “head” of the classroom and more at student perception, intake and learning style. Imagination is the catalyst to incorporating change and opening the mind.

Need a place to start? Don’t change your curriculum – you don’t even have to write completely new lesson plans… Simply choose one lesson you already have in place, and tweak it so the output and objectives can be met differently. Want an example? Instead of having the students write the same ole’ research paper… Have them write the paper and then use Photo Story to capture the story with photos while using their voice to narrate it. Or…  Have the students use VoiceThread and get feedback on their paper from other peers. Or… have them use a Wiki and use classroom collaboration to write the paper along with another classmate. Or… have them design a “movie poster” using graphics and some text to advertise the plot/storyline – this goes right along with summarization skills.

Same research paper… different output. Student engagement achieved.

Imagination is not just for use with crayolas.

Left or Right?

Left Brain. Right Brain. Visual Learner. How do you learn? Better question? How do your students learn? In trying to embrace 21^st Century Skills initiatives, be sure you have the answer!

Any of my former students who happen to be reading this blog will probably smile. If they can think back to a few years ago, they will remember that these questions were presented to them within the first week of school! As their teacher, I wanted to make them aware of how they receive information. I also wanted to know how I could best reach them with my curriculum! In the process of answering these questions, they learned a lot about themselves. I, on the other hand, was able to get a better handle on what type of approach I needed to use when teaching the content of my courses.

When you really think about it, learning styles are pretty interesting. As one common teacher quote puts it… "all students are gifts, some are just opened before others". What does that mean? My personal interpretation is that it takes trial and error, different teachers and different subjects to finally reach a student and help them turn on the personal light bulb that helps them “get it”. Get what, you ask? Get what we are trying to teach them. Some students seem to “get it” immediately. For others, we just need to be patient and figure out which path to take. My personal belief is that ALL students can learn… and learn abundantly. We just have to find out how they best receive the information and how we can make it relate to them. Students are consumers of sorts and as teachers, we have to put some effort into helping them “buy in” to what we are trying to sell… knowledge that they will need and can actually use.

How do you learn? Do some self-reflection. For starters, check out this site and take the quiz. http://www.wherecreativitygoestoschool.com/vancouver/left_right/rb_test.htm You will be amazed at your results! The quiz only takes about 10 minutes.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS:

• Logic
  
• Sequential
  
• Verbal
  
• Linear
  
• Analytical
  
• Rational
  

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• Recognize and remember names
  
• Respond to verbal instructions
  
• Dislike improvising
  
• Solve problems systematically
  
• Logical problem solvers
  
• Responsive to logical appeals
  
• Deal with one problem at a time
  
• Produce logical ideas
  
• Seldom use metaphors
  
• Give information verbally
  
• Depend on words for meanings
  

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS:

• Intuition
  
• Creative
  
• Non-verbal
  
• Spatial
  
• Holistic
  
• Artistic, Visual, humorous
  

--

• Recognize and remember faces
  
• Respond to visual instructions
  
• Like to improvise
  
• Solve problems playfully
  
• Intuitive problem solvers
  
• Responsive to emotional appeals
  
• Deal with several problems
  
• Produce creative ideas
  
• Often use metaphors
  
• Give information with movement
  
• Interpret body language
  

(Lists courtesy of www.strategicaction.com.au)

What are some of the “recognized” types of learning styles? Visual, Aural, Verbal, Physical, Logical, Social and Solitary! http://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/ Check out this overview for great explanations.

What more information? Check out this site… http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3629

This article gives a GREAT explanation of right and left-brain teaching and right and left-brain learning! Want to learn even more? Visit http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/army/rotc_right-left_brain.pdf

As the owner/writer of this blog… anyone care which type I am? Last time I checked … I was a pretty even split down the middle between left and right-brained. This has been the case for several years now. But, as I age, I see the scales tipping a bit towards left-brain dominance.

Believe it, or not… learning styles have a huge impact on how your students will receive your curriculum, even with the exciting and engaging incorporation of 21st Century Skills! Project-based learning might just be the best approach to caputure your students' true creativity and talent in expressing what they've learned in your class! Regardless, make sure that your content provides the technological tools necessary for them to succeed in this society... and make sure they understand, fully, what you are trying to teach. Need some ideas to get started? Not a problem! Technology in the classroom can address all kinds of subjects, goals and learning styles! As an Instructional Technologist - I can help you begin that journey.

Definition of a Disc

With the increased output of so much digital media – terminology and technical lingo has grown by leaps and bounds.

How do you figure out exactly which disc you need for what? How do you make sense of it all?

Let’s get back to the basics… check out these definitions to some of the common terms and acronyms seen today for the most common types of media storage.

CD

Compact Disc. Optical storage device, capable of storing around 600-700MB of data. Great for storing data files, music, and photos.

DVD

(Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc). An optical disc format which provides sufficient storage space and access speeds to playback entire movies. Great for storing LOTS of data files, music and photos also!

HD DVD

A high-definition DVD format supported by a group of manufacturers led by the popular company... Toshiba. (Mainly for movies)

HD (not a type of storage medium, but a common abbreviation these days!)

High Definition. Usually used to describe any device capable of generating or displaying a signal with a resolution of at least 720 vertical lines. Another accepted definition is any signal containing at least one million pixels of video data in a single frame (vertical resolution x horizontal resolution).

Blu-Ray

A high-definition DVD format supported by a group of manufacturers led by Sony. Typically holds 25-50 GB of information.

Flash Drive

A device used to store data that can withstand more abuse than a hard drive, ranging in capacities from 32MB to 16GB. Also commonly referred to as a Thumb Drive, Key Drive, or Jump Drive.

Memory Stick

Digital data storage technology with up to 10 times the storage capacity of an (old school!)  3.5 diskette. Sony claims rights to this term and is promoting the Memory Stick as the new way to share and transfer pictures, sound, and other data between different compact electronic devices like digital cameras and camcorders.

All definitions courtesy of the following online resources:

www.optimumrecovery.com

http://www.hdmi.org/learningcenter/glossary.aspx

http://en.wiktionary.org

http://it-legends.com/glossary

Tech Girls

Eileen Collins. Kathryn Clark. Charlotte Barnum. Ada Lovelace. Susan Kare.

Recognize any of these names? Lots of folks probably don’t! Who are they? Women who have made significant contributions to the fields of math, science and technology!

Increasingly, there has been some staggering statistics that show fewer and fewer girls wanting to pursue careers in technology. This statistic must change. And, in your classrooms – you have the power to make this change significant.

Check out a few eye-opening statistics –

· Many more boys than girls take Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science exams. According to the College Board in 2006, 2,594 girls and 12,068 boys took the AP Computer Science A exam, and 517 girls and 4,422 boys took the more advanced AP Computer Science AB exam.

· Although teenage girls are now using computers and the Internet at rates similar to their male peers, they are five times less likely to consider a technology-related career or plan on taking post-secondary technology classes” according to Kathleen Melymuka, author of an online article from ComputerWorld.

· Studies show that women view computers as a tool and with much more societal context than men do; they are much more concerned with effect of technology on other disciplines, and how it can be used to improve society. On the other hand, men have a much narrower focus of interest; and do not require a "larger goal" in connection to their interests

· According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women filled only 26.7 percent of computer and mathematical positions in 2006

· Women’s representation in computer and information sciences workforce hovers at about 30%.

(All statistics and supporting information courtesy of Wikipedia, ComputerWorld and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Without going into a lot of depth on the how’s and why’s the lack of interest in technology by girls has happened… we can just begin an initiative to close the gap, in general.

How do we close a specific gender gap? The solution, by default, will close ALL gaps, whether gender, race, economic or geographical. Provide equal access to technology in all schools.

How do we accomplish that? With an open mind, determination, creativity, grant-writing and a lot of hard work.

Do you feel there is, indeed, a gender gap between girls and boys using technology in our classrooms? It is truly something to think about. Check out this teachertube video that shows how girls feel about technology!

The next time you assign a classroom project involving technology – make sure that the boys and girls in your class equally find some part of the project that inspires them. The gap will begin to narrow immediately.

Need an idea? Check out www.alice.org for a glimpse at a programming application that hopes to encourage usage by under-represented populations. Contact our office to schedule a workshop.

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The women mentioned at the start of the blog post…

Eileen Collins - The first woman pilot of a Space Shuttle

Kathryn Clark - NASA’s Chief Scientist for the International Space Station Program

Charlotte Barnum - Became the first of three women to receive Ph.D.'s in mathematics from Yale before 1900

Ada Lovelace - Seen/recognized by many as the "first programmer"

Susan Kare - Created many of the interface elements for the Macintosh (Apple) in the 1980s

Needle in a Haystack!

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My Tweet. Your Voice.

Technology in the classroom. 21st Century Learning. Technological and educational collaboration. What do all of these things mean? Well… let’s find out what it means to you!

Be creative... tell me (USING ONLY ONE WORD) what students gain from using technology in their classrooms.

How do you respond? By using Twitter.com! What is Twitter? An online tool that allows you to collaborate/talk to others while only using a limited number of words to communicate. It provides the capability to instantly send and receive ideas and messages.

Follow these steps to get started…

· Visit http://www.twitter.com/
· Click the “Get Started-Join” button mid-way down the page
· Fill in the (quick) info to create your own account
· Once you have created an account and you are logged in, click “Find People” at the top
· In the search box, type in “aprilpatt” (That’s me!)
· Click on my name, and my question (tweet) will appear.
· Simply click on the small arrow (underneath the star) to add your response!
· Want to follow the responses for yourself? Simply click “follow” and it will allow you to follow the responses as they are added (you must be logged in to see the responses)

Are you more of a visual learner? Take 2 minutes, 25 seconds to watch this Twitter tutorial about what makes Twitter work. Keep in mind that ALL tweets are public!

http://www.commoncraft.com/Twitter or at
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=65c60642bc8f14432120

Check out this video of how some 2nd graders (yes, 8 year olds!!) are using Twitter in their classroom. http://www.channel3000.com/video/18912902/detail.html

There are so many technological tools and resources around us. Let’s figure out positive and educational ways to incorporate them into our daily curriculums. Remember, with all online tools, you absolutely MUST teach online safety at the same time you introduce the tools. Constant teacher observation and computer screen monitoring is also an absolute must!

I look forward to your tweets and will post them on this blog later. Not sure you want to create a Twitter account? Feel free to simply add a comment to this blog post.

What are the directions and the question again?

“Be creative... tell me (USING ONLY ONE WORD) what students gain from using technology in their classrooms.”

Communicate, Collaborate, Connect

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the 2009 NCTIES conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. NCTIES is the acronym for North Carolina Technology in Education Society. “The mission of NCTIES is to provide leadership in educational communications and technology by linking all who hold a common interest in the use of educational technology and its application to the learning process.”

The tagline used by NCTIES gives pause for reflection… Communicate, Collaborate, Connect. In this, the 21st Century, those words are powerful. Let’s look at each one individually and then collectively.

According to Webster, their definitions are as follows…

--
Communicate: to convey knowledge of or information about; make known

Collaborate: to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor

Connect: to become joined; to place or establish in relationship
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Collectively, those three words can easily be used to shape and define the skills that are developed through the use of 21st Century classroom initiatives! What comes into play?

· Telecommunications (Skype, Twitter, etc.)
· Global Communities (Quest Atlantis, ePals, etc.)
· Wikis (PBwiki)
· Blogs (Blogger)
· Shared Documents (Google Docs)
· RSS Readers (Google Reader)
· Social Bookmarking (Delicious)
· Moodle
· Video-Conferencing
· The list goes on and on….

How will you communicate? How will you collaborate? How will you connect? The tools are already in place – just add creativity. Your students will appreciate it.