Are My Students Digital Natives or Digital Immigrants?

Please listen to my very first podcast as I had the pleasure of interviewing a few of my students after conducting a classwide survey of technology use. It was rather interesting to see through my students the concepts discussed in our resources this week. The number of children that just remember technology always being available and always having access to a computer and even remembering or being told by parents as early as two or three years of age was rather surprising to me. All of the students pointed out that they do not use technology in school near the amount of time outside of school, yet interestingly this did not seem to be surprising to them. The children just mentioned it as if this is how life is supposed to be.

The children I interviewed through Audacity were Susie C., Alyssa P. and Ronnie P. and they are all middle school students. I will attach the written survey that I submitted to my students via email but only have added clips to my podcast of my interviews. As a rookie to podcasting, I must warn that my clips are not flowing as well as I like but this too will get better as this "semi-digital native" continues to practice with this media.



MY PODCAST click on this link to hear this weeks podcast.


My technology survey click on this link to view my technology survey.


RESOURCES:

Dretzin, R., & Maggio, J. (Producers), & Dretzin, R. (Writer). (2008, January 22). Growing up online. [Television broadcast]. Boston: PBS Frontline. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/

November, A. (2007). Banning student 'containers'. Technology & Learning. Retrieved fromhttp://www.techlearning.com/article/7468

Marc Prensky. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6. Retrieved July 29, 2009, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1074252411).

Marc Prensky. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 2: Do They Really Think Differently? On the Horizon, 9(6), 1-6. Retrieved July 29, 2009, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1074252431).

McHale, T. (2005). Portrait of a digital native. Technology & Learning. Retrieved fromDate Modified: 29 Jul 09 7:37 PM MST

A review of http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

Feeling like you need a boost for the next school year?

21st century skills can provide that for you! Visit their website and you will be energized and revived to want to incorporate technology into your classroom. Our children’s educational needs are changing just as their experiences and prior knowledge are before they even enter school. With technology access and experience at the forefront, 96% of students are accessing online networking sites daily (Miners and Pascopella, 2007). Typical lecture style dissemination of material is not working for our youth any more and it is certainly not preparing them for a world that requires very specifics skills. According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills these skills are: (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=188&Itemid=110)

Information and communication skills (information and media literacy skills;
communication skills)
Thinking and problem-solving (critical thinking and
systems thinking; problem identification, formulation and solution; creativity
and intellectual curiosity)
Interpersonal and self-direction skills
(interpersonal and collaborative skills; self-direction; accountability and
adaptability; social responsibility)
Global awareness
Financial,
economic and business literacy, and developing entrepreneurial skills to enhance
workplace productivity and career options
Civic literacy

These skills have been echoed by many other resources and are proving to be necessary for our children to meet the challenge globally as our world “flattens” (Freidman, 2005) Throughout this website you will be given a number of links to resources to help you in your classroom and to help with professional development ideas.

The surprising thing about this site is that most of the partners are not educators but rather global leaders in industry. I was impressed to see executives from Dell, Intel, Lego, Sesame Street Workshop even speaking about the requirements and needs of the 21st century worker. Education must respond!!!

As I looked at one video and saw the states involved, I was a bit ashamed that South Carolina was not listed although some of our neighboring states were receiving awards from the organization. South Carolina must begin to step forward and look at these traits and skills listed above and incorporate these skills and the advice of professionals like Dr. Thornberg from the Thornberg Center. Our students need to be trying to compete in a global world and they are not receiving that preparation in our schools.
So if you need a boost and are ready to make a difference in your school and community take a look at the website for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Perhaps you can join them in their mission to:

“Serve as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of US K-12
education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business,
community and government leaders.”

(http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=188&Itemid=110)
Personally I plan to familiarize myself with the organizations Framework for 21st
Century Learning, ( http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/)
which describes the skills, knowledge and expertise students must master to succeed in work and life. I invite you to take a look by clicking on this link and looking over the material! Students need to be held to high expectations with technology being a major part of their curriculum. Teachers and students need to be embracing the technology around them and finding ways to use it in the classroom. As educators this world is new for many but to the children they have a different view and can be invaluable resources. To educators I ask that you open your minds and listen to the children share their ideas and their experiences. It is through this method that we all will reep the benefits of teaching and learning!

Please let me know what you think after looking at the framework and share any ideas you might have! Good luck and enjoy!

Thank you for taking the time to make our students one step closer to children of the 21st century!

resources:

Friedman, T. (2005, April 3). It's a flat world, after all. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/

Miners, Z., & Pascopella, A. (2007). The new literacies. District Administration, 43(10), 26–34.

It's official... I am a blogger!

Okay I guess it is official... I am a blogger! I mentioned to colleagues at work that I had to have a blog for this class and laughed "what would I do as a math teacher?" They assured me that I can easily have an entry a day without any concern! Really!?!?! This surprises me.... I am a talker and love to tell stories but to write?

Well they have assured me that I will love this outlet! So I am excited! Now just to get participants... that's the next goal.

How would I get my 6th grade math students to use the blog space? For journaling and linking math to every day life would be the most obvious. I would like to provide a way for the students to add posts through comments that would show how they see math in real life and especially the material we cover when it arises in real life. So that would be a definite goal of my blog!

But what about the curriculum? Do you think the students would share their homework concerns with each other or confusion on a concept with each other through a blog? I think this would be a great use of a blog. Allowing the children to discuss the current homework assignment and the process they used to solve the problem. This is the ultimate form of learning I think. However, with my school's requirements that all posts should be screened would a homework/ concept help spot be beneficial if they have to wait to see their posts?

I am still trying to figure out how to incorporate links on my site, I might have to switch sources for my blog, I think having links and activities for the students to find interactive material would be great and comes highly recommended by my panel of experts ( Nonny's gang)!

Just some Words of Wisdom from me ... please share yours with me!!!

My First Blog

Okay so I came up with the name with A LOT of help from nieces and nephews and family.

Pow W.O.W. --- Powers' Words Of Wisdom

Not sure how many wise words will appear over time but I thought it was catchy and would attract my students.


With the help of Nonny's Gang (my children and nieces and nephews) I have decided on the different types of things I would like to include on my blog. They have informed me that links to math games is a must, lesson plans and assignments would be helpful, funny stories and then general tidbits about math that the students can reply to would be interesting to them. Since they are the population I am trying to hit... I am heeding their advice.

Now to just figure out how to add these sections to my blog!?!?!?!


The world of blogging has been quite overwhelming for me. I would find a blog but then couldn't return. Left comments and then realized they didn't post. Created usernames to some sites but then not sure how to get back. SO I decided to add a blogging tip section also if possible. I hope you have not had as many heartbreaks with blogging as I have. Hopefully after setting up some an RSS feed, things will get simpler, because then I will actually use it and benefit from it.

I wish you all good luck with this project and I request that you all share any advice you have for me.

Thanks for logging in and I hope this is the beginning of a very incredible adventure!!!

Happy July 4th!!! Let the fireworks begin!!!