by Patti Grayson | May 29, 2012 | Creating Global Classrooms, Less Teacher, More Student, Making The Shift, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices, Web Tools That Deepen Learning
Skype enables students to connect, collaborate, and communicate with students across the globe. It creates an opportunity for students to learn from each other, to have authentic audiences for their work, and to meet musicians, authors, and others who can further their learning. The possibilities are truly endless. Skyping is no longer a novelty — a once-in-awhile special event. It’s becoming a routine part of being an effective 21st century teacher.
by Sr Geralyn Schmidt | May 25, 2012 | Making The Shift, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices
Along with creativity, collaboration, and communication, critical thinking is one of the four components of learning in the 21st century. Unlike the other three, critical thinking is often difficult to reduce to bite-size pieces of understanding and challenging to teach to others.
by Margaret Haviland | May 22, 2012 | Less Teacher, More Student, Making The Shift, The Compelling Need for Change, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices
Every state requires high school students to take a US History survey course. For the makers of the SAT Subject Test, every event, every President, every person of note is of equal importance and equally likely to show up on the examination. If I were a college admissions director I would want an assessment that sought to tease out a young person’s sense of what it means to be an engaged citizen, not how many facts they know about President James Garfield.
by Shelley Wright | May 15, 2012 | Less Teacher, More Student, Passion Based Learning, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices
I think the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is wrong. I agree that the taxonomy accurately classifies various types of cognitive thinking skills. It certainly identifies the different levels of complexity. But its organizing framework is dead wrong. Here’s what I propose. In the 21st century, we flip Bloom’s taxonomy. Rather than starting with knowledge, we start with creating, and eventually discern the knowledge that we need from it.
by Smadar Goldstein | May 10, 2012 | Creating Global Classrooms, Less Teacher, More Student, Making The Shift, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices
Another major a-ha for me as an online teacher is the dynamic and potential for group involvement. When I describe what I do to people who are, shall we say, “not connected to the world of web culture,” they are amazed. “You mean the kids can see you and hear you? Don’t they get bored?” Well, if all they did was listen to me teach, then yes, they would get bored. Wouldn’t you? Which is why I make sure that my classes do not involve lecturing.
by Smadar Goldstein | May 8, 2012 | Creating Global Classrooms, Less Teacher, More Student, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices
During my time as an online educator, I’ve used a variety of video conferencing platforms. I have taught students in public schools, Catholic schools and Jewish Day Schools and complementary schools. The technology is powerful, but there is something that catches my eye each time I run a session: it’s the human reaction to these technology-supported events. I think there is a need, in today’s wired world, to connect to another person far away, living a different, yet somehow similar life.
