For those of you that are new to Web 2.0, you may not have heard of Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach. She is incredibly knowledgeable and writes extensively about the integration of technology and Web 2.0 tools. Sheryl is professor at William and Mary College. Sheryl is committed to 21st Century learners and how to help educators move to 21st Century “teaching”. I discovered her blog and instantly we were connected. The fact that I was a superintendent interesting and using Web 2.0 in my daily work as well as attempting to have our high school teachers integrate the tools she included me as a “virtual mentor” for a pre-service course she teaches to college students on the way to becoming teachers. I was able to engage with her students, be a resource for ideas and issues they experienced as they were student teaching. We’ve had many interactions since then although we met face-to-face for the first time yesterday. Sheryl invited me to call in using SKYPE about my use of Web 2.0 at a conference she presented at in New Zealand this spring. It is incredible the contacts you make in the virtual world. Just by looking at the map on my blogroll (http:changinghighschools.blogspot.com), you can see how many people from every corner of the world have visited by blog. Often these people will comment on my blog, call me by SKYPE or e-mailed me to set up a time for an interview that would be recorded into the podcast.
Each participant was given an iPod Shuffle for the conference. This was a donation from Apple. The Shuffle can also be used as a 1 gig hard-drive. You need to have iTunes loaded on the computer you will use your Shuffle. Shuffles don’t like to use more than one computer. iTunes on a school computer is “safe”. iTunes has parental controls that can be set to make sure students don’t get exposed to the “radio” or other locations undesirable for students.
Adam Frey is a great resource. 100,000 free wikispaces are available for wikis without any advertising on it.
Sheryl has set up a wiki for the conference.
http://21stcenturylearning.wikispaces.com/
If you go to "Resources" you can find a link for wikispaces and many other tools.
Sheryl spoke about our changing world and how we are going to prepare student. Some key bytes:
Knowledge is divergent, not linear
Have you used the new WWW? The new WWW: Whatever, Wherever, Whenever.
iPod + podcasting= Anytime Learning
What about kids using iPods in School?
What about using cell phones?
“This is not business as usual, it’s business as unusual!”
What do you need to know when most of recorded knowledge is a mouse click away?
How do we prepare students for the jobs that don’t exist yet...using technologies that have not been invented yet…?
What does it due to the body of knowledge when everyone is a producer and knowledge isn’t static anymore?
How do we balance safety and access in order to allow the use of Web 2.0 technology.
Are you ready for the 21st Century? IT’S HERE!! We’re 7 years into it!
Web 3.0 is here. Take Web 2.0 and the technical aspects and learn from an Avatar such as in Second Life.
It is estimated that 1.5 exabytes of unique information will be generated this year.
What is 21st Century Learning? (It is so much more than technology)Some say;
The ability to establish ambiguity
Being your own reference librarian
Being able to network with people that have the resources you need
4 Areas that include 21st Century Learning
Digital Age Literacy
Inventive Thinking
Effective Communication
High Productivity
We need to give students a skill set so they are marketable and not competing with jobs that are outsourced?
There are 4 other Iroquois folks here at the conference attending other cohorts. Pat Aroune is here in the connecting cohort. Mr. Kenney, Mr. Esslinger and Mr. Lysiak are also here. I'm anxious to hear what they have learned in their first session.
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5 comments:
"We need to give students a skill set so they are marketable and not competing with jobs that are outsourced?"
Niel, could you explain what you mean by this. I agree with the first part of your statement that "[w]e need to give students a skill set so they are marketable..." First, I am not sure we should "give" students the skills. I think we could make these skills interesting enough so that students will, in a way earn, their skills, work to get the skills. But this is not the really issue I have with your quote. The real issue I have with your statement is the part where you say, "...not competing with jobs that are outsourced?" Should our students not compete? I guess I need some clarification.
Rick Weinberg
Great overview of the session! Made me feel excited all over again just reading it! I am so jealous of the teachers who get to work under your leadership. How fortunate are the students in your district!
As to Rick's need for clarification--
I think the point Neil was trying to make is related to some of the information I shared from Freedman's book The World is Flat.
We live in an age where much of the information based jobs are being outsourced. There are countries like India and China that have as many gifted students as we do students overall. Today, China and India's grads are able to use the infrastructure that was established during the Dot Com craze to communicate and do work here in the US.
Our schools are delivering an education that is preparing kids for the information age (the same jobs that are being outsourced)-- the problem with that is we are currently transitioning to a new age...the age of conceptualization.
The jobs we should be preparing kids for haven't even been invented yet in many cases. And the ones that have require a different skill set than jobs in the industrial and information age did.
So-- if we want to prepare our kids to be successful in the 21st Century we need to prepare them for the jobs that can't be outsourced - rather we need to prepare them for jobs that require a 21st Century skill set.
A good book to read would be Daniel Pinks A Whole New Mind to further clarify what we are discussing.
Thanks for pushing back Rick... I think it helps us all to think harder about these important ideas.
Thanks so much for the compliment Sheryl. I learned so many new tools and I know I will be using many of them in the year to come.
Rick, Sheryl did an excellent job of clarifying most of my intent. Further, with respect to "not competing with jobs that are outsources", I also note the fact that most of the jobs that require labor such as work in factories and assembly are being outsourced to other countries where the labor is much cheaper than wages paid in the United States. The jobs that many believe our students will need to compete for are those that require creativity, innovation and a college degree. Those are the jobs that will be needed in the 21st Century and those are the jobs are students need to "compete" for.
Glad you asked for clarification Rick. Sometimes when I write, I assume the audience will have the same background information that I have acquired. Your comment is a good reminder to remember there is a wide array of people reading my blog and I can't make assumptions about prior knowledge/information.
Sheryl...Thanks for the clarification. I actually don't believe our schools are preparing students for the information age, which I think we both agree is basically over. I believe that our schools are preparing students for factory work and possibly a society of agriculture. I agree that our jobs are being outsourced. I also agree that we have to prepare students for the age of conceptualization. I have much to say about this. Please pick up the conversation on my blog. www.techedguy.edublogs.org
Sorry the link does not work. I am trying.
Rick Weinberg
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