Over the last week I've been trying to clean out my RSS feeds, but only succeeded in adding more than deleting. There is so much "out there" that I want to keep up with and very few that I find I can delete without wondering what I will miss in the next post. The funny thing is, I only seem to worry until I push the yes to the do you want to delete question. Probably because I know I will be adding something I think might be better. Though I try not to let myself add a feed without deleting, I'm still not at a one-to-one.
One site that I added was FLYPAPER. I was interested in this site that is a follow-up to Mathews editorial in the Washington Post about 21st century learning. From the comments on the FLYPAPER post one can see there are people that support the notion that this 21st century learning stuff is simply a ruse to down play the teaching and learning of content. Where the post I believe is shortsighted is in seeing technology as the focus of this change. As we have shared, technology is another of the content areas that provide opportunities for students to engage in acquiring our Outcomes and Indicators, Habits of Mind, thinking skills, and core knowledge as identified in the GLE's.
Certainly there is a body of knowledge that is essential and a component of 21st century learning as is the acquisition of information literacy and technological fluency. Not all young people come to school with the skill set described in the FLYPAPER post and there is much more to learn than downloading and playing. We are trying to create an understanding of our Classroom 10 focus with staff and with our community because we believe that this understanding is essential if we are to create a learning community committed to this effort. I think we are doing a better job though I know there are those that still struggle with the content/process balance. I will continue to share information that both supports and questions this focus and my response.
2 comments:
Thank you for pointing us in the direction of, and exploring, a dissenting opinion regarding 21st Century skills education. At one point earlier this year I voiced my concern that all of the blogs that I pay attention to are written by people who's views align with those of our district. I voiced the concern...but then did nothing.
I'll be adding Flypaper, or perhaps the blog of Core Knowledge (mentioned by the first commenter on the Flypaper post), to my list. This should help me think about any positive ladders I have built up toward the blogs I read. Don't worry, I won't be making room by unsubscribing to Seeking Shared Learning.
Ethan,
Yes, it is important to maintain some balance and being open to be influenced about how we engage in this work. The direction has been established, but the road map for implmentation is more flexible.
Mike
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