We're Not Talking Diamonds Here... The 4 C's

A framework for 21st century learning identifies four vital components of modern learning as add-ons or symbiotic elements to the classic 3 Rs of learning.   Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration.  Behold:

Wow!  I LOVE the 4 C's but not just for usage and integration of technology into classroom learning.   Not just because they mirror the most desirable employ-ability skills.  Simply because it is a beautiful rainbow of learning.  No seriously, The 4 C's might just be the magic bullet that American education needs to stop "middling" compared to our international competitors. 

A study from the Harvard's Program on Education Policy and Governance from this summer indicated that compared to our international counterparts, American students ranked 25th in math, 17th in science and 14th in reading.  Yowza.  If you ask me, creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration are nearly impossible to judge basec on an FCAT score.  That might be a conversation for another time, but then again, it might be exactly the reason the US is so unimpressively average when it comes to our educational swagger.

For a visual of the international rankings from the Harvard survey, see the black line below:

This "hilarious" (read: depressing) article by the Huffington Post also includes a graphic of the Education Olympics that you might find entertaining. 

How does our "middling" relate to educational technology you might ask?  Well, without digressing down a rabbit hole of epic proportions about our current educational policies, the need for literacy reform and a shift in cultural attitude about the universal "need" for a post-secondary degree for any American under the age of 45... the short answer comes from another recent international rankings report from an agency of the United Nations.  This time the the U.S. ranked 10th in the Global Innovation Index, a report published by Insead.  This report seemed to upset some folks, so do with our 10th spot rank what you will, but I think the bottom line is clear.  In no area are we happy with our current educational status.  Rather than focus on our deficits, let's focus on how the 4 C's can help!

My own teacher education program focused on a Constructivist theory of pedagogy that emphasized collaborative learning, critical thinking, communication and creativity.  Genius!  These methodologies can be used to instruct, differentiate and assess which make them ideal for all types of learners.  Because I was entrenched in these methods from the start, providing students with a robust, exploratory learning environment just seems logical to me.  And if you think about it, isn't that what our vision of the internet is for students?

If we were to use these guiding principles to incorporate technology and innovation into our classrooms, we might just be hitting on the jackpot of educational environments.  How might this be best achieved?  This article from the BYOTNetwork explains how to incorporate both the 4 C's and your students' very own cell phones.  Now that's innovative.  

Do you agree that incorporating these ideals into curriculum planning will help us bring technology into the classroom?  Or do you think reform in these areas needs to start at the policy level?  What are your thoughts on the 4 C's?

Teachers Want to Inspire, Say Executives

Blame it on the politically charged climate I find myself in at the moment as a Florida resident gearing up for November presidential elections, but doesn't it always seem like the suits are out there telling us what we want and need without actually ever asking us? 

A recent article by Joel Klein at TechCrunch reflected on a a panel of educational leaders discussing "the future of education: and I found the list of invitees most interesting.  In the mix was Khan Academy founder Sal Khan, former Chancellor of New York Public Schools and a current executive at News Corp., as well as Udacity co-founder Sebastian Thrun.  Were any of those folks ever a teacher?  Any of them even have kids in public schools?  While inquiring minds would like to know, the article does not provide us with that particular piece of information. The article does, however, share the following gem:

"Teachers want to be empowered: That is their motivator. They want to be more effective and excited about the process. So, when it comes to the intersection of education and technology, simply putting a computer in front of a student, of a child, doesn’t make their lives any easier, or education any better."

What do you think of their grand conclusion?

This brings me back to my earlier point.  Don't you wish sometimes that the news media, legislators and even maybe the administrators would stop speaking on behalf of the folks doing the educating and actually ask the teachers what they need? 

Thankfully, and contrarily, this recent survey from the Leading Education by Advancing Digital Commission did ask the teachers, and parents to boot, their thoughts.  Turns out, both parties overwhelming believe that greater emphasis on technology will produce results in learning and that ed tech will become much more important in the next 10 years than it currently is.  Thanks Arne Duncan for actually asking the teachers what they think will be helpful.  Let's see what you do with the data.

What I found most interesting in comparing these two articles is that both suggest that a computer alone won't affect change, that creating an engaging environment through technology is key.  Interestingly, while Khan Academy has certainly become a mainstay for many struggling students, I would argue that Khan Academy is pretty much exactly sticking a child in front of a computer and does not generally engage the student with a new modality for learning.  It is still listening and watching for comprehension, which as many educators know, is the most basic of learning formats.

Did you really want me to pull out the old stand-by Edgar Dale diagram?  Alright, here you are:

So what is actually being done to investigate how education and technology can blend to improve student learning and not just create a new environment in which students will be bored in new and exciting ways (the ultimate challenge, right?!)?  Right here at UCF, amazing work in this area is being discovered every day at the Center for Emerging Media.  I hope to write more on this amazing department soon but if you have a chance to check their site out on your own, please do.  These guys really do seem to aim to inspire, so maybe the executives don't have it completely wrong.

What do you think?

Searching the Search Tools

I recently read a blog post presented by a company aiming to increase the online presence and marketablity of private businesses.  The post included various websites and search engines out there available to assist businesses in turning better results in social media searches for their brand.  While I'm sure extremely helpful to some, the list was so comprehensive I found myseld exhausted just trying to keep up as I perused it. 

It's times like these that I feel our digital age is pummeling us into a brave new world, emphasis on the new, with one very important piece missing: the edit.  I recognize the irony of discovering that we need a filter built into all of this newness as I was reviewing new means for producing clearer search options (I feel like I am seriously in danger of tumbling into the matrix with that sentence).  Nonetheless, the whole thing kind of makes me want to lie down and take a nap.

Similarly, The Chronicle recently produced an article on an FSU Instructor who graded her students based on their Klout scores (according to the article, "Klout.com calculates “influence” based on a user’s level of engagement on sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Facebook).  Granted, the course was about online marketing so kudos to the Proff for grading based in the learning outcomes but still...

While teaching in the digital age, do you ever find yourself overwhelmed with all of the "helpful" resources out there for educators?

I'm not sure if it's my compulsive need to sort and order information (hi, I'm an educator, nice to meet you) or just my way of staying sane while weeding my way through the fronteirs of virtual life, but the educational sites I have found myself most drawn to are actually the ones where you become your own internet curator.  You know, education's answer to Pinterest.  Have you tried Zotero or Diigo?  Both of these sites allow users to bookmark, annotate, and cite relevant internet sources and both have functionality to create and join groups of like-minded individuals.  In their help section, Diigo states "Diigo aims to dramatically improve your online productivity."  I'm not sure about THAT big of a promise, but I would highly recommend checking these two sites out.

Are there any other sites that you can't live without as an educator?  Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all of the "helpful sites" out there aiming to "increase your online productivity"?