Not surprisingly, most of the qualities he mentions are qualities we expect of our students (see, for example, IB learner profile). Modeling for students and collaborating with them are two that stood out for me. Check out the list and see what you think.

I’m currently enrolled in a master’s class from Lehigh University labeled “Supervision and Professional Development.” As part of the class we were asked to contribute a “best learning experience.” Given my enthusiasm for classroom tech, I offered the following submission:

“The best learning experience I’ve had in the last couple of years is one that not only affected me deeply but has grown to influence and, I believe, improve learning for my faculty and students is the integration of 21st century technology in the classroom and in the school generally.

As a teaching principal, I’ve used online resources over the years to great affect in the classroom. And while useful, the resources I was using were often discrete and disjointed–i.e. I would find a rubric I like here, a worksheet I like there, a study guide hither, and a classroom activity yon. The recent evolution in web 2.0 utilities, however, has changed everything.

I began immersing myself in utilities such as Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, wikis, NewsReaders, etc. about a year and a half or two years ago. Immediately it was apparent to me how these utilities might be useful not only in the classroom but in the school as a whole. While I had had my students dabble in these technologies previously, they quickly became central to our skills-based learning outcomes as I realized that this is the direction in which learning was moving.

In order to make sense of the exponentially increasing information out there, collaboration via these media has become essential so that I can work together to collate and process the information. And not only that–how I can communicate more effectively with students and colleagues is being revolutionized in new tools such as Google Wave. (I’m kevinblissett@googlewave.com, by the way, if you’d like to join my wave. I have plenty of invites if you need them.)

The upshot of all of this is that I’ve gotten most of my faculty and students on the technology train as well–not because I’m forcing my own interests on them, but rather because they quickly come to realize that we can learn and collaborate better via these media. I’m still learning these techologies; something new comes out every week. But I’m genuinely excited about the tools, and I’ve grown more efficient and connected as I’ve used them. I believe my faculty and students have as well.

I’m not sure where or when the authors went to school, but I attended a public school as well as a very traditional Catholic school in the early 80′s, and I think it’s a bit inaccurate to depict them by some of the qualities mentioned in the left column. To wit:

• Focus on memorization of discrete facts. While this was a part of nearly all classes, it was certain not the focus. Skills and personal qualities were an important component of what we learned and what the school was trying to do.
• Lessons focus on the lower end of Bloom’s taxonomy. Not at my school. Critical thinking, synthesis and evaluation were important components of our classroom activities.
• Passive learning. I’m afraid I don’t know what that means in this context. Most of my classmates were very actively engaged in discussions and projects.
• The discipline/trust/motivation dichotomy is simply inaccurate and unfair in my experience.
• Low vs. high expectations. Highly disagree.
• Curriculum is  meaningless to the student. Huh?

Look, if one is to frame a proper argument, it is not helpful to set up straw men. (I learned that in my 20th century classroom.) Lay out the argument on the accurate merits. It does us all a disservice if we’re creating false dichotomies and inaccurately assessing other paradigms. Again, I’m taking the 21st century train, but the 20th century train did pretty well in getting me where I am. Let’s keep it real.

• Structures for learning
• Time for learning
• Tools for learning
• Communities for learning
• Policy in support of learning

This paper should be required reading for teachers and administrators. Give it a look.

A study by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) reveals that though U.S. school districts recognize the importance of web 2.0 tools, not many districts are fully embracing nor implementing them.

James Bosco, EdD, Principal Investigator of the MacArthur Foundation grant and Co-Chair of CoSN’s International Advisory Council [stated], “If U.S. students are to be the next inventors, entrepreneurs and leaders in the global economy, we must see to it that our young people have the innovative tools they need to be successful in the 21st century, particularly in the classroom.”

OK, this blog understands that–not a revelation.

The study collected data from nearly 1,200 school administrators on the role of digital media in American schools. CoSN worked with the Metiri Group, which conducted the survey of three key groups of education administrators — school district superintendents, curriculum directors and technology officers.

Here are their key findings (my comments in italics):

 

• The nation’s district administrators are overwhelmingly positive about the impact of Web 2.0 on students’ lives and their education. (Good to hear.)
• Keeping students interested and engaged in school is the top priority for Web 2.0 in American schools.  (I’m still with you.)
• The majority of district administrators believe that student use of Web 2.0 should be limited to participation on approved educational Web sites. (Well, that would depend on what those are. If you’re excluding all social media, this is where I take an out.)
• The majority of school districts ban social networking and chat rooms while allowing prescribed educational use for most of the other Web 2.0 tools. (Hmmm. This needs to be defined clearly. I can envision an assignment in which I want my students to collaborate with students from another continent, and this would be prohibited because we can’t use Ning or Twitter. Close monitoring is the key here. If the school cannot be confident in its ability to monitor whom students are contacting or what the students are doing, then maybe it’s not ready for implementation. However, that would raise other questions about why the school cannot properly monitor its students online activities.)
• While curriculum directors report low levels of general use of Web 2.0, they describe significant opportunities in curricula and teaching materials. (Anywhere there is internet access there is an “opportunity.”)
• Curriculum directors reported that Web 2.0 will be used most effectively in social studies, writing, science, and reading at all grade levels. (Why not math? Why NOT math? Art? Music? PE? Any subject? The opportunities for collaboration and networking are endless.)
• The use of these tools in American classrooms remains the province of individual pioneering classrooms. (Why?)
• Web 2.0 is outpacing the capacity of K-12 education to innovate. (I’m sure that’s true.)
• District administrators, the persons responsible for the decision-making on Web 2.0 in schools, are more passive than active users in the Web 2.0 space. (That may be an understatement. The probable fact is that most school administrators are not utilizing web 2.0 tools so how could they be expected to fully understand their massive utility?)

…

“From Facebook and other social networking applications to wikis, blogs and digital media, children in the United States are fully engaged in the use of Web 2.0 tools outside of the classroom. The study is encouraging since it shows that school leaders believe that Web 2.0 collaborative applications expand the resources available for classroom learning, but it also reveals that use of these technologies inside the classroom is often constrained by a number of factors.” said Keith R. Krueger, CEO of CoSN. “Our schools must better align the reality of the technology-rich world in which our students live outside of school with the learning experiences they have in the classroom each day.”

Nothing to add there. Amen.

U.S. schools need to get serious about promoting and implementing new learning tools and a new mindset geared toward collaboration and networking on a global scale, or they will get left behind.