The Tale of Two Digital Natives - Podcast

Marc Prensky (2001) coined the term “digital native” to describe the children who have been raised immersed in digital media. These children have been exposed to multimedia and technology tools their entire lives (Prensky, 2001; McHale, 2005). Prensky (2001) describes how digital natives are fundamentally different learners as a result of changes in the brain based on this life-long exposure to digital media. In this podcast, I will introduce you to two young ladies who are both digital natives. Despite this similarity, they present very different learning profiles that serve as a reminder to educators that the digital age is only increasing the demand for variety in the classroom. 
Podcast - The Tale of Two Digital Natives

Sources:

McHale, T. (2005). Portrait of a digital native. Technology & Learning. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/portrait-of-a-digital-native/42941

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5).

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills - A Review

The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills has a well-developed website that clearly promotes the mission “to serve as a catalyst to position 21st century readiness at the center of US K12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders.” It provides a wealth of resources for educators ranging from research to practice that explain the need for and demonstrate the best practice of 21^st Century skills in the classroom. Beginning with the interactive graphic explaining the P21 Framework, the website is user-friendly and easy to navigate.

One tool available on the website that is particularly relevant is the P21 Common Core Toolkit: AGuide to Aligning the Common Core State Standards with the Framework for 21stCentury Skills.  Through the use of clear charts and side-by-side comparison, it was clearly demonstrated how the Common Core Standards are already clearly aligned with 21^st Century Skills. However, this resource also includes a discussion of the 21^st century skills that are not directly included in the Common Core Standards and ways to ensure that they are still incorporated into classroom instruction. Creativity and innovation are the areas identified by the tool as lacking in the Common Core Standards, but easily integrated with the suggestions provided.

The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills as has a State Leadership Initiative. States that have developed standards, assessments and professional development that align with 21^st Century skills can apply for this status. The website provides links to the initiatives and resources of the sixteen states that are currently involved. It is unclear if these states benefit from this status, besides having highly effective education programs. It appears that all of the resources are available to all users. Unfortunately, further investigation was impossible as several of the links on the 21st Century States page were broken.

In the P21 FAQs, they identify the effectiveness and reach of their influence under “Is P21’s model making a difference?”They list states that have incorporated the skills they promote, assessments that include critical thinking, and membership. However, there is very little support for direct impact. For example, the website does not indicate what results the state initiative participants are seeing in their schools. They provide examples of 21^st Century skills being incorporated into curriculum, but do not explain how or if they had any impact on that happening. Was the developer a member of p21? Did the state make those changes as a result of the State Leadership Initiative? There are many institutions, researchers, politicians, and educators that value these skills and work to have them implemented in classrooms. It would be more effective if there was a more direct correlation between The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills and their impact.

The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills is providing a valuable resource for educators and policymakers. As an educator, the resources provided can support the daily integration of these skills into content area classrooms through useful classroom examples and tools. It can also justify the need to do so when questioned by others, whether they be administrators, teachers, students, or parents. The information provided makes it clear that students and teachers need to prepare for changes in approach, process, and thinking in order to be effective, employable, and educated.

Utilizing Blogs in the Classroom

In my 10^th grade English class, I would like to create a blog for discussion topics for students and building community. I would use the community building aspect to build the basic blog skills and familiarity with accessing the blog. Then, I will add discussion topics that allow students to respond to a content related topic and respond to each other’s ideas.

I would like to begin by establishing a blog that shares the course syllabus, classroom expectations, and class work and homework assignments. This would allow for increased communication with parents and students and provide a resource for students who need an alternative method for keeping track of and turning in assignments. I would set up a separate blog for each of the 3 sections I teach in order to keep the assignments and due dates clear for each class. It will also help keep me organized. This part of the blog will allow for some training with access and communication. We will use some class time to access the blog and make sure that all students are familiar with accessing and navigating the blog independently.  

A few weeks into the semester, I will add a discussion component to the blog. I will post discussion questions/topics/prompts on the blog and ask students to respond to the prompts as well as to each other. I will provide students with a rubric so that they have a clear understanding of the expectations. We will also complete a practice activity using the rubric to score anonymous blog postings. The discussion prompts I will use will relate directly to the content we are covering. I would like to use application, analysis, and extension questions as prompts so that students are extending their knowledge to develop new understanding about content. This may include literature, grammar, or the writing process.

Using the blog to discuss extension, application, and analysis questions will enhance the students’ learning through increased access to higher level thinking questions with the support of additional responses from classmates. I hope that it will develop a sense of community within the classes as students extend their interactive learning outside the classroom. This extends our class time beyond the 83 minutes in the school schedule and eliminates some of the time pressures that the school schedule creates. It also creates rich, meaningful “homework” assignments that would replace worksheets and rote practice activities. The blog would also be a great opportunity to work on communication and writing skills. I find that my students do very little writing and therefore struggle with communicating effectively in writing. If they become engaged in the use of the blog, the significant increase in the amount of writing they do will likely have a positive impact on their writing skills.