Being Literate in a Digital World

"The First Amendment guarantees free speech and a free and unrestrained press as the primary protections for ensuring a diverse marketplace of ideas in support of an informed citizenry. However, to ensure a diverse marketplace of ideas and an informed citizenry, literacy is also essential. Beyond knowing how to read and write, digital literacy means knowing how to leverage digital tools to express ideas, reach a wider audience, and engage with diverse people and ideas from around the world. In these ways, digital tools can help to "ignite the learning light" in each and every student. (25.10.11)"
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/digital-divide-technology-internet-access-literacy-vanessa-vega

The Jury is Out...

You've got to follow this link to a blog post on "Wright's Room" where Shelley Wright has written about an epihany she's had about assessment and learning. Why assess with tests, quizes and exams? Read on...
http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/the-jury-is-in/

Literacy and Subject Areas

I'm really pleased to see that there is talk - and action - around the importance of teaching writing and reading in subject areas from prschool to university. Most exciting is hearing that it is growing in importance as a discussion area at high school level. We have technology teachers at our intermediate, who need to be aware of the reading and writing abilities (and numeric) of their students and how they too must scaffold learning to write explanations, procedures or reports.

This UACEL webinar was a step forward for our school - a staff meeting in real time, through the internet and projected onto the screen in the staffroom.

http://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/about/centres/uacel/newsletter

Problem Based Learning

I'm finding out about this for school - it was introduced before I got to Mokoia and is another inquiry model. I wonder whether it is too conceptual for many of our kids?
I like the Allandale Model for inquiry because it pegs the stages to pictures - visual memory aids of the stages.

Problem Based Learning

View more presentations from Mark Swiger.

Emerging Technologies

Westley Field impressed me at ULearn with his look at where our learning environments are going. His was the next step from that we've been hearing for the last ten years.