Upgrade Your Curriculum: Ch 1-4
Jennifer Jarman Sandau EDU 530
"Takeaways" from Chapters 1-4
- Collaboration among educators is essential
- We must approach curriculum and instruction with a 21st century mindset
- When it comes to the use of technology and web-based tools, the task should be the priority
Takeaway #1
Collaboration among educators is essential
Teachers who wish to improve instruction and transform curriculum must collaborate with other educators. Growth as an educator is influenced by orbits of ability. According to Hale and Fisher, “an orbit of ability is a given person’s knowledge and talent, or expertise. When one person moves into another person’s orbit of ability, his or her knowledge and capabilities grow” (2013, p. 10). Collaboration can occur in person and also in the digital world through Digital Learning Networks. The orbits of ability which we can encounter are virtually countless. The more that we interact and collaborate with other teachers, the more we grow as teachers and thus improve our instructional practices. By working together to become better teachers, we benefit from a variety of perspectives while modeling collaborative behaviors for our students.
For me, this idea has strengthened the need for meaningful collaboration within my school and across the district. Teachers cannot operate in a bubble. If we truly want to improve and bring our curriculum and teaching practices into the 21st century, it is essential that we share our knowledge with colleagues as we learn from them as well. Rather than meeting once every two weeks for collaboration, as teachers in my building do, we truly need more time together to share best practices in order to impact student learning.
Takeaway #2
We must approach curriculum and instruction with a 21st century mindset
The world has changed in numerous ways since the advent of the traditional public school and therefore education must change to fit the needs of the 21st century. Hale and Fisher cite Jacobs who says, “I often wonder if many of our students feel like they are time traveling as they walk through the school door each morning. As they cross the threshold, do they feel as if they are entering a simulation of life in the 1980’s? Then, at the end of the school day, do they feel that they have returned to the 21st century?” (2013, p. 20). As educators, it is our job to connect the needs of our modern workplace and society to what is happening in the classroom. The way we teach has to change just as the way students are expected to learn has changed. We need to be thinking in terms of engaging students in higher order thinking, collaboration, and making global and local connections.
Ken Kay, President of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, says that we need to “teach teachers to help students understand the content in contexts that makes sense to them, and in contexts that are relevant to them, and contexts that will actually help them deal with problems they are likely to face” (Knowledge Delivery Systems, 2013). As teachers, we need to focus on not just teaching the content, but on how we can present the content in ways that will build relevant skills for our students’ futures. Although most of my students will not pursue theatre after high school, it is up to me to show them how the skills they learn in my class and by participating in productions will continue to help them as they pursue college, career and beyond.
The graphic below illustrates the 4C's that make up 21st century skills.
Takeaway #3
When it comes to the use of technology and web-based tools,
the task should be the priority
As we implement technology into our learning environments, we must ask ourselves if we are merely enhancing the lesson with the addition of technology or if we are truly transforming the lesson. Upgrade Your Curriculum presents a continuum which can help us understand the impact technology has on our lessons. The continuum contains the concepts of automation, informating and amplifying. In each stage of the continuum, the integration of technology has a greater impact on the students and allows for change that could not otherwise be conceived without the use of the digital tool. As we assess how technology can impact our lessons, we should always remember that “it is the task that matters, not the tools” (Hale, Fisher, 2014, p. 38). There will always be new technology awaiting us, but it is how we choose to use it that will truly impact our students.
My building is going 1:1 this year and all of our students will have laptops. The idea of not using technology just for technology’s sake is important. In many of our meetings and preparations for the 1:1 initiative, we have discussed the importance of using digital tools in such a way that it is not merely an addition to the lesson, but a true enhancement. For me, this idea is huge. We need to move away from only using digital tools because they are fun and will engage the students, to finding ways for our students to collaborate, create, think critically, and communicate by using technology in a meaningful way.
References:
Hale, J. A., & Fisher, M. (2013). Upgrade your curriculum: Practical ways to transform units and engage students. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Knowledge Delivery Systems. (2013, June 05). 21st century skills: rethinking how students learn. [Video File] Retrieved July 22, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=qMG5dvhEzyo
Wick, S. (2015, April 25). Learner Centered Classrooms and Google Apps for Education [Web log post]. Retrieved July 22, 2016.