EDLD+5364+Week+5

EDLD 5364 Week 5 //-// This is it! The final week of a fabulous course that can be applied to the classroom immediately! //Here are the readings for the week:// Reading #1: __Using Technology With Classroom Instruction That Works, pp.154-164__ Pitler, H., & Hubbell, E., Kuhn M., & Malenoski K. (2007). Students do not typically think of "effort" as an integral part of schooling and their accountability to learn. Technology can be used to establish and reinforce the concept of effort. Students can use software to set up tracking for their effort (recording effort as various actions taking to learn) and the results of their efforts (project/homework/test grades, presentation grades, etc). A graph or table, spreadsheet, or journal type document could be used to record effort and results.

Reading #2: __Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools, pp.168-176__ Solomon, G., & Schrum, LO. (2007). A variety of Web 2.0 tools can be used for authentic assessments in the classroom. For instance, instead of the traditional flat text assessment, such as a unit test, a student could create a video, a webpage, a blog or wiki, an electronic portfolio, or use a variety of other tools to create a media product that demonstrates mastery of the unit, even at a higher level of Bloom's taxonomy than the traditional paper test could reveal.

In one of the videos this week, the most succinct statements about the educational system were made by a professor of Learning Sciences at Indiana University, Professor Barab, who believes we are not preparing students for the future jobs by the traditional methods that worked in the 19th and 20th century - drills and memorization of information. Instead, Professor Barab said students need to learn how to integrate information to solve problems; he said education should be about USING information, not getting information. Games are a great way to do this, because games are about solving problems, and creating a pseudo-reality where you can practice solving real-world problems. A great video every administrator, principal, teacher and student should see!