Week+9+(March+15+2010)

Basically, this article is reminding us that it's not enough for us to be feeding information to our students. We need to emphasize the high order thinking skills! (critical thinking and problem solving) This made me think about the implications in terms of how "smart" our students could potentially become. If traditional learning is about feeding information and new learning is about constantly pushing higher order thinking skills, are we not on our way to developing a generation of people who are more critical, thoughtful and curious about the world around them? ** Are we heading into an era of enlightenment? **
 * Literacy in not enough **This week's readings, by Ian Jukes, outline the ways in which 21st century students learn differently than those of us who didn't grow up in a digital age. Here are the some notes from the article and my thoughts about today's learner:
 * Facts become obsolete at an overwhelming rate, which affects the way we work, play[[image:obsolete.jpg width="257" height="196" align="right" caption="image accessed at http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3272/3062361496_f7106e4b10.jpg"]] communicate and view our fellow citizens
 * However schools remain largely the same as they have for decades
 * We need to teach so that information is internalized. Video game creators design the games so that decisions need to be made every 1 second and players are rewarded every 7-12 seconds
 * 21st century skills are unique to the digital generation. They include networking and online communications
 * In order to thrive in this digital landscape, students need five 21st century fluencies:
 * Solution (define the problem, design a solution, try it out, get involved in the evaluation of the problem-solving)
 * Information (unconsciously interpret information in all formats in order to extract the essential)
 * Creativity (using the imagination to create stories, add meaning through design, art and storytelling)
 * Media (decoding the messages in digital media to better understand how data can be shaped and biased)
 * Collaboration Fluency (team working proficiently with virtual partners in an online environment)

This article is similar to one we read earlier in the term and I find it incredible. ** Our technology has physically changed the human brain! How crazy is that? ** As a teacher I will be thinking about this next year when considering lesson planning and the use of new technology.
 * Attributes of Digital Learners **
 * Researchers are discovering that students are actually neurologically wired differently than we[[image:brain.jpg width="268" height="283" align="right" caption="image accessed at http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2007/2278300537_0ea2c025f4.jpg"]] are (they interact with the world differently than we do)
 * Their brains process information in a parallel or simultaneous manner, as opposed to the sequential or linear manner in which our brains function
 * Students read in an F pattern, as opposed to our Z pattern (this means that the bottom right corner doesn't get read unless students are highly motivated)
 * Text-based homework isn't very effective. You need to assign experiential homework where students repeat what was learned in class

**Interactive White Board** I watched a couple videos about interactive White Boards and I was blown away by the possibilities of them. One teacher uses the board like a book for English grammar. She is able to slowly show parts of an image, drag and drop words anywhere on the board and compare answers with an answer key that will pop up right on the "test" sheet. I would love to use one of these in my FSL classes. For example, I could write a story with my students as a fun warm up activity. I could have images and students could come to the front and write down vocabulary words that apply to the images and together we could write a text using those words. This could prepare them for their own story writing or comic creations.