The writing in the hard place

Within 21C learning there exists a rock and a hard place. It is this:

Where is the balance of using tech tools to support learning, vs replacing old learning with technology.

At some point in history people had to say "Hey, let's stop using papyrus and let's use this modern paper stuff" which I'm sure someone said was unnecessary. At another I'm sure someone said "hey, this wooden pencils with these leads, let's use those...they're better" and we did.

So, at what point will we stop using some of the "older" technologies and replace them with the new.

Someone said to me recently that "handwriting is on it's way out", but then a colleague of mine conducted some research which showed that when kids write vs computer type their quality was better written. So, will handwriting be replaced by word processing? If so, what are the consequences?

Some said spelling was one of them, but we were still in that phase of the industrial revolution where we did not have something to do that for us. Now we do. We know that a computer will do our spelling for us. 

I understand that kids should know how to spell, but if it is being done for them can we use the time that WAS used for a spelling program to devote to things that are more relevant to their lives.

Another criticism is the hand muscle control. This one I can agree with, as my handwriting skills are TERRIBLE and played video games and lot as a kid. I also used word processing a fair bit, so it seems that there may be some relevance here based on my person experience.

Handwriting is just one of the things that technology may slowly replace. Are there others? perhaps more to blog about later. 

21C Learning?

Hey All!

I've had a lot on my mind regarding what to write about in my latest post and how to generate more conversations on this website...more importantly though, I've been thinking about how we can get buy in on teacher's ends for 21C learning. I have a lot of co-workers who have a hard time buying in on 21C learning, simply because the "old ways" are the better ways. I'll readily agree that the old ways are good. I still like writing things down and often "misplace" my files in my computer. i.e. they get lost in the mix. I also find that redoing things year after year in education has lead me to having an overload of files that almost seem unmanageable.

As a result, I was reading some stuff about buy-in.

I read the below from http://www.21stcenturycollaborative.com/2013/03/poll-why-do-good-ideas-about-teaching-and-learning-have-so-little-impact-on-educational-practice/:

• Tracy Rosen: And I still maintain that blaming teachers for resistance to change when it is mandated upon them is like saying students are resistant to learning. If you want to look at theory, look at participatory change theories, appreciative inquiry… Btw, Collins also says that one of the main indicators for moving from good to great is that an organization chooses one thing that they are good at and focuses on that, which goes back to my original comment above re: the revolving door of good ideas for change in education. - See more at: http://www.21stcenturycollaborative.com/2013/03/poll-why-do-good-ideas-about-teaching-and-learning-have-so-little-impact-on-educational-practice/#sthash.zfQymwtY.dpuf

I think this leads us to wonder why big schools tend to try to do a lot, rather than focussing on doing one thing really well. At my school we recently focussed on the New Zealand Maths project a lot, and in my opinion, it worked. We seem to be a more focussed, knowledgeable school in Maths as we have something to ground ourselves in.

I think this is where the buy-in takes place. You need something solid to ground yourself in. A structure. A foundation. And I think this is often where 21C learning is lacking. 21C Learning tools are simply that. Tools. To learn. The problem is, they're very often not a foundation. Or at least I thought this way the case.

When you think about it, the googledrive can be a foundation for the 21C learning of a school. I know that it has problems, but these days what doesn't. It's not prefect, but it's a go-to place for kids to learn. 

I'll get into this more as I think about it.

That's all.

Andrew

The beginning of a summer blog

Good Morning from Sunny and beautiful St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada,

I've realized I've neglected this site for a bit of time, so I've decided to use both the blog portion of it to post comments, suggestions, ideas and opinions about 21C learning, and learning in general.

My goal in life is simple: Be the best teacher I can.

So, I want to share some of the things I've learned, am learning, and will learn.

Next year is my first full year teaching a new Grade. I've been teaching Grade 5 for 5 years now and am exploring the joys and challenges of Grade 3. This will be an, admittedly,  challenging year for me as a teacher as it will force me to be organized in ways I have never done before. As a result, this summer I will be exploring a lot of simple organizational tools for my new kids

I'm hoping to be doing a more more screencasts as well. They're going to start with googleapps stuff, like the very basics of logging in and exploring the bar along the top of the screen, to creating folders. Later on I'll hopefully get into some apps like conceptboard, mindmap, or lucidchart.

And this summer...I've got the time. So bear with me as I explore my own head in ways to help Grade 3 students, and students all over the world, learn.

Thanks for paying attention, and as always, suggestions are welcome!

Andrew