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. Read the rest of this entry »
ISM’s Pre K - 12 technology standards will be based on the NETS standards from ISTE, and we are currently in the process of formulating indicators for the standards. As the school gets standards in place for the various subject areas and departments start entering units into Atlas Rubicon, all teachers will need to become more familiar with the NETS standards, as meeting these will require some integration of technology use in other subjects.
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Image source (under a Creative Commons license):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fullgl/171813349/
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According to ISM’s mission and our school-wide student goals, our mandate is to develop “effective communicators” and “responsible, caring and ethical contributors“. The NETS technology standards also commit us to developing digital citizens who “practice legal and ethical behavior” in their “use of information and technology“.
This may all sound well and good, but what does it mean in practice?
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Traditional education tends to relegate students to the role of consumers, of passive recipients of knowledge, which is seen as something to be delivered by the teacher (with the aid of secondary sources such as authoritative textbooks). Over the years, the underlying assumptions of this model about how learning takes place have increasingly come under criticism, but while many call for an overhaul of the teacher’s role - from “Sage on the Stage” to “Guide on the Side” - this is still effectively the model according to which many classrooms operate. The critics further argue that schools need to upgrade the students’ role to active co-producers of learning and knowledge.
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This is from the faculty focus group session I did this morning. I shamelessly borrowed the idea from Alan November, whom I heard present at a recent conference in Shanghai. It’s deceptively simple, yet very powerful…
Over the last year, many teachers have voiced an interest in podcasting as a way to diversify students’ ways to demonstrate learning and understanding, but for a few different reasons, few ever seem to get round to actually implementing it in the classroom. Read the rest of this entry »
ISM is in the middle of accreditation, and the school is committing itself to meeting a number of different external standards, the implementation of which requires careful consideration. Among these are the NETS (National Educational Technology Standards) standards, which outline the 21st century skills our students should be gaining by virtue of being in our classrooms. This has implications for all teachers at ISM.
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