Much has been said about the pros and cons of using ICT in the classroom - for example, many worry about online safety and health impacts, and some also question whether ICT improves learning. For example, some studies indicate that the introduction of laptop programs in schools does not necessarily improve test scores.
While these are important concerns - of course we want to improve learning - there are other reasons for choosing to use computers in the class, and traditional test scores may not be sufficient benchmarks for evaluating the benefit of introducing ICT in the classroom. If using computers in class can help to improve reading, writing and math scores, that is important and useful, but that should not be the only evaluation criteria, as success in the 21st century will require a broader skill set than just the traditional academic skills - a skill set not necessarily measured by traditional test scores.
In short, if we limit the discussion to teaching and learning in the traditional subject areas only, we are not teaching the kids all they need to learn.
As Scott McLeod points out on his excellent blog www.dangerouslyirrelevant.com, we need to ask how we measure 21st century learning. While there are applications out there that can accurately measure student performance with digital tools, these are often expensive, which is difficult for independent schools, which often do not have access to resources produced for national school systems. Another concern is that some of them are much better at assessing low-level skills than higher-order thinking skills.
At ISM, we have decided to use the NETS standards as our roadmap towards teaching students these additional skills. Rubicon Atlas will allow us to see how well we cover 21st century skills in our curriculum, but we still need to address how best to assess whether the students are learning the skills we are attempting to teach them. This will be something we will need to work on next year.
In subsequent posts, I’ll talk about each of the six NETS standards and how one might go about addressing these in class.
