vanessa kay's List: 21st Century

• "We used to talk about reading, writing, and arithmetic as the essential skills for literacy. To be literate today involves acquiring new skills, including those of using technology, understanding science, having global awareness, and most important, having the ability to keep learning, which involves gathering, processing, analyzing, synthesizing, ad presenting information as well as communicating and collaborating. Free, online tools can play a large role in helping students acquire these skills."  

  -- Solomon and Schrum (2007)
• "We used to talk about reading, writing, and arithmetic as the essential skills for literacy. To be literate today involves acquiring new skills, including those of using technology, understanding science, having global awareness, and most important, having the ability to keep learning, which involves gathering, processing, analyzing, synthesizing, ad presenting information as well as communicating and collaborating. Free, online tools can play a large role in helping students acquire these skills."  

  -- Solomon and Schrum (2007)

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• "Students of today enter an increasingly globalized world in which technology plays a vital role. They must be good communicators, as well as great collaborators." 

  -- Pearlman (2006)
•   "The shift to Web 2.0 tools can have a profound effect on schools and learning, causing a transformation in thinking. This will happen because the tools promote creativity, collaboration, and communication, and they dovetail with learning methods in which these skills play a part." 

  -- Solomon and Schrum (2007)

   

    

  Overview
• Electronic communication promotes authentic learning experiences and helps prepare students for working in the "real world." This is especially important given the recommendations by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a public-private organization that has defined the skills students must have to succeed in the 21st century workplace. These skills include the ability to use 21st century tools, such as digital technology and communication tools, to develop learning skills and to learn in a 21st century context - that is, to learn content through real-world examples, applications, and experiences both inside and outside of school. See Additional Resource at the end of this section to learn more about the work of this organization. For other organizations concerned with media skills, see Other Course Resources.

• What is Web 2.0?

    

  While the Internet was gaining popularity during the 1990s, one Web site, launched in 1995, offered something a little more than the basic. It was a company called Amazon.com—a huge, online bookseller. You could not only find and purchase books and read publisher reviews of them, but you could read comments, ratings, and reviews created by other readers and add your own. You could actually visit their site to have a conversation about books. Going to an online bookstore suddenly became a social event! Amazon.com, in a basic way, describes the start of Web 2.0. However, there's more to Web 2.0.

     

  As defined by Solomon and Schrum (2007),

   

  "Web 2.0 is an invented term, coined in 2004… It encompasses the growing collection of new and emerging Web-based tools. Many are similar in function to desktop applications, with people using their browsers for access rather than installing the software on computers. Many tools are free and available to all, a change from applications that are purchased or licensed annually. Others are social in nature and promote self-expression, such as the community networks, blogs, wikis, and photo and video sharing sites."

• As you search for a project, think about the following and take notes:

    
   
  • Who is the creator or sponsor of the projects? What is the quality of the related links? Is the site well designed? Is the site maintained? Is the information reliable? Are there reviews of the site? Have they won awards?
   
  • How does this project make use of the Internet? How does it utilize Web 2.0 technologies?
   
  • How can you get your class involved? Is it an ongoing project, or do you have to join by a particular date?
   
  • Is it free or fee-based?
   
  • What curriculum areas does this project support? Does it address state and local standards?
   
  • What kind of classroom activities can be designed around this project?
   
  • What kind of teacher support does this project offer?
   
  • What kind of commitment is required to participate in this project?
   
  • What are the technical requirements necessary to participate?
   
  • What grade levels would this project work for? Why?
   
    

  When you find a project that you would want to try in your classroom or with a group of students, engage in the following discussion about online collaborative projects in the classroom:

    
    
  Which project did you select and why? Post the title, URL, and a short description.
   
  What are the benefits of using this project in your classroom to promote communication and collaboration, both curricular and otherwise?
   
  What are the obstacles? How can you overcome them?
   
  What additional lessons and activities do you need to integrate into the project in order to help your students use the Web efficiently and be successful in completing the project?
    
    
• Once you have reviewed two educational blogs, submit your responses to your facilitator:

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