INTERMEDIATEPROFICIENCY BENCHMARK

PBL Lends Itself to Authentic AssessmentAuthentic assessment and evaluation allow us to systematically document a child's progress and development. PBL encourages this by doing the following:close modalMott Hall School: A popular science lab activity is the culmination of several days' worth of exploration into the heat of fusion.Mott Hall School: A popular science lab activity is the culmination of several days' worth of exploration into the heat of fusion.It lets the teacher have multiple assessment opportunities. It allows a child to demonstrate his or her capabilities while working independently. It shows the child's ability to apply desired skills such as doing research. It develops the child's ability to work with his or her peers, building teamwork and group skills. It allows the teacher to learn more about the child as a person. It helps the teacher communicate in progressive and meaningful ways with the child or a group of children on a range of issues.

These 21st century skills includepersonal and social responsibility planning, critical thinking, reasoning, and creativity strong communication skills, both for interpersonal and presentation needs cross-cultural understanding visualizing and decision making knowing how and when to use technology and choosing the most appropriate tool for the task

Online reading comprehension (ORC) has elements of “communication” identified as the last of the five skills students need. In order to fill the void I would see concerning the creativity, composition, and design skills students need…we have been developing online content construction (OCC).

In school, most youth only consume digital stories and resources

They inform, persuade, entertain, and inspire us to take action. Digital storytellers use technology to improve the quality of their work and amplify its impact.

Do learners seek out texts that consider multiple perspectives and broaden their understanding of the world? Do learners critically analyze a variety of information and ideas from a variety of sources? Do learners choose texts and tools to consume, create, and share ideas that match their need and audience? Do learners create new ideas using knowledge and insights gained? Do learners analyze the credibility of information, authorial intent, and its appropriateness in meeting their needs? Do learners use information and the ideas of others to solve problems and make decisions as informed citizens? Do learners strive to see limitations and overlaps between multiple streams of information? Do learners gain new perspectives because of the texts they interact with? Do learners use tools to deepen understandings, to share ideas, and to build on others’ thinking? Do learners develop new skills strategies to meet the challenge of new texts and tools?

The rapidly evolving nature of literacy presents an important challenge for theory development

new literacies

The results of the questionnaire indicated that West Town students had greater access to the Internet at home and were required to use the Internet more in school. These results suggest that a separate and independent achievement gap existed for online reading, based on income inequality.

Layering technology into antiquated tasks isn’t going to improve the learning experience. But purposefully altering the substance of these tasks to address the skills students need today (and those they’ll need tomorrow) will improve learning.

better to think of the SAMR model more as a spectrum

The SAMR Model.

The Digital Civics Toolkit is a collection of resources for educators to support youth to explore, recognize, and take seriously the civic potentials of digital life

Figure 1. The TPACK framework and its knowledge components.

Social and institutional contexts are often unsupportive of teachers’ efforts to integrate technology use into their work.

Also complicating teaching with technology is an understanding that technologies are neither neutral nor unbiased

Teachers practice their craft in highly complex, dynamic classroom contexts (Leinhardt & Greeno, 1986) that require them constantly to shift and evolve their understanding

learners achieve best when their learning is reinforced and supported in multiple settings.

when the topic is personally interesting and relevant, learners achieve much higher-order learning outcomes

We need to harness these new technologies for learning rather than distraction.

support

open up opportunities for them.

all students feel safe and comfortable participating

rubric when deciding whether to adopt a technology solution:  Does it give each child a chance to participate, even if they are not the first to answer? “Does it engage every learner in the room, and require them all to actively participate and respond to each question, form an opinion, and submit an answer?” Does it allow for students to share openly, without risk of exposure of their mistakes to other students?  Is it efficient and effective for teachers to target not only class needs, but individual student needs? Does it vary the way students can respond to a question? Some students like oral discussion while others prefer written replies.

Educational technology can help encourage quiet students to become active participants in the classroom

Figure 1.3. Continuum of Assessment Methods

Figure 1.1. Stages in the Backward Design Process

Once the learning goals have been established, the second stage involves consideration of assessment

Being audience and culturally aware, resolving conflict appropriately, using technology tools effectively, and taking responsibility for personal and group productivity.

Learning through making involves constructing new content

reading online requires a basic understanding of web mechanics

At least five processing practices occur during online research and comprehen-sion: (1) reading to identify important questions, (2) reading to locate information, (3) reading to evaluate information critically, (4) reading to synthesize informa-tion, and (5) reading to communicate information

MediaSmarts has drawn on the work of academics and educators across the country to develop a curriculum framework to ensure that students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 can receive a comprehensive digital literacy education. This framework consists of lessons, classroom activities and other teacher resources that translate the five key concepts into specific digital literacy skills that are essential for each grade level. These skills are grouped into seven categories: Ethics and Empathy: This category addresses students’ social-emotional skills and empathy towards others as well as their ability to make ethical decisions in digital environments when dealing with issues such as cyberbullying, sharing other people’s content and accessing music and video. Privacy and Security: This includes essential skills for managing students’ privacy, reputation and security online, such as making good decisions about sharing their own content, understanding data collection techniques, protecting themselves from malware and other software threats, and being aware of their digital footprint. Community Engagement: Resources in this category teach students about their rights as citizens and consumers, and empower them to influence positive social norms in online spaces and to speak out as active, engaged citizens. Digital Health: Digital health skills include managing screen time and balancing students’ online and offline lives; managing online identity issues; dealing with issues relating to digital media, body image and sexuality; and understanding the differences between healthy and unhealthy online relationships. Consumer Awareness: These skills allow students to navigate highly commercialized online environments. They include recognizing and interpreting advertising, branding and consumerism; reading and understanding the implications of website Terms of Service and privacy policies; and being savvy consumers online. Finding and Verifying: Students need the skills to effectively search the Internet for information they need for personal and school purposes, and then evaluate and authenticate the sources and information they find. Making and Remixing: Making and remixing skills enable students to create digital content and use existing content for their own purposes in ways that respect legal and ethical considerations, and to use digital platforms to collaborate with others.

citizens who lack digital literacy skills risk being disadvantaged when it comes to accessing healthcare, government services and opportunities for employment, education and civic participation

Today’s youth are often called “digital natives” by adults because of the seemingly effortless way they engage with all things technological.

"It's not interactive, ... there's one screen, and you just have to read it," he explained. "It's the same as reading a [paper] page."