Jul 09 2011
CASA Day One
Yesterday was an information-filled day giving me many ideas to take back to my board. My first session was presented by Ian Jukes – I’ve heard him before, in fact, the same presentation quite a few years ago, but just like reading the same article in 565 as I did in a previous MET course, the context is different and so the message landed in a very different way.
Ian spoke about the Digital Generation and compared how they learn compared to how teachers teach – they are divergent thinkers, we are linear, they process information quickly, we dish it out slowly and sequentially. He offers the challenge that since research shows that multi-tasking does not result in sustained learning, how do we as educators straddle the need for focused attention for learning with their preference for partial attention?
Lots of great quotes – “Knowing what we know about research and about how digital learners learn, and we don’t change how we teach, who has the learning problem – the kids, or us?”
Ian also presented his 21 Century Fluency project. What I like about his skill framework is that he provides detailed practices to teach the skills – so many others simply list the skills we need to teach, but leave teachers to try to figure out just how to make them happen their classroom.
I also had to share Gary Hayes’ Social Media Count site – very appropriate in light of Module 4 in 565!
The rest of the day was spent with an Ottawa superintendent who laid out his board’s strategic plan in their Blueprint for the future – how they are changing the pedagogy and technology use in their schools – something I need to mull over and perhaps visit a few of his schools this fall to see it in action. Key to his success was in setting up focus groups of all stakeholders to get buy-in for the changes that had to be made such as changing school libraries, cancelling some popular programs to fund technology purchases etc. Getting support of these groups made for a much smoother transition.
Today, I hear about another board’s plan to do the same. So much to learn!