NETS-S standards

None of the six National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) are well implemented if that means consistent and engaging use of technology at Level of Teaching Innovation (LoTI) 4 or higher. I have witnessed some of the elements of each standard in my substitute teaching assignments and have read of model experiments in different school districts across the country. However, I believe strongly that the current public education system may be incapable of merging computer and information literacy into integration literacy. The nature of 21^st Century education is innovation whereas the nature of traditional education is entrenchment and a progressive ossification that prevents innovation.

Digital students

Digital students are different from the previous generation of students in that they have been relatively ‘immersed’ in the digital environment from the time they are born. Their parents facilitated this immersion by being technology literate and using digital technology in the home. This scenario resembles my generation growing up with television from black and white to color. I could not imagine not having a television and digital students cannot imagine not having their digital tools.

The implications for teachers is that they must keep up or, preferably, stay ahead of the technology curve, and they must become digital students themselves in order to model 21^st Century literacy for students. Digital students are still emotionally immature young people and powerful digital tools can cut both ways unless used wisely. This harkens back to my toolbox example because an apprentice can hurt him or herself by not using a particular tool correctly. This risk is mitigated by experience and learning, which is the reason that technology literacy must be joined to information literacy.

21st Century Literacy

21^st Century literacy is the ability to intelligently and effectively use the numerous digital tools the Internet makes possible. The literacy of the future will mean the ability to navigate successfully the technological environment surrounding societies and cultures in order to achieve the safe harbor of innovation on the road to personal and societal self-actualization.

“Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives. They will need literacy to cope with the flood of information they will find everywhere they turn. They will need literacy to feed their imaginations so they can create the world of the future. In a complex and sometimes even dangerous world, their ability to read will be crucial. Continual instruction beyond the early grades is needed” (Moore, Bean, Birdyshaw, & Rycik, 1999)1.

http://www.maine.gov/education/it/promise/4literacyint.pdf 

Computer literacy

Computer literacy refers to the degree of computer operation familiarity or ease of use. In other words, it’s the ability to use a computer to conduct research projects and data mining. I will liken computer literacy to toolbox literacy for a carpenter. The carpenter could be an apprentice or a master. One has minimum toolbox literacy and the other has maximum toolbox literacy.

Computer, Information, Integrartion Literacies

What is the difference between? Computer literacy refers to the degree of computer operation familiarity or ease of use. In other words, it’s the ability to use a computer to conduct research projects and data mining. I will liken computer literacy to toolbox literacy for a carpenter. The carpenter could be an apprentice or a master. One has minimum toolbox literacy and the other has maximum toolbox literacy.

Information literacy refers to critical thinking or the ability to conduct effective environmental scanning of all available information, screen out irrelevant information, and screen in relevant information. This cognitive processing of information leads to synthesis of solutions to the questions at hand.

Integration literacy refers to the ability to bring together successful traditional proven education/learning methods and 21^st century technology. Once they are brought into each others presence they are joined into an integrated union with the best potentialities of the past, present, and future. One example is a life-long appreciation of music integrated or joined to the technological ‘enhancement’ of high-quality sound engineering.

Dr. S

I finally figured out how to "Post" versus commenting on a post. I did not realize that I had to login to my own blog. Who knew?

collaborative tools

I looked at all the tools and signed up for FlashMeeting, SupercoolSchool, IT4ALL. These three tools combine the synchronous and asynchronous approaches, which is what I support. I am not a big supporter of social networking as maximized by web 2.0 philosophy. I find the three tools would be useful in establishing an online school, online classroom, and remote meeting conferencing. These venues seem most readily applicable to a basic core competency curriculum.

I would encourage research regarding the pros and cons of other more interactive web 2.0 tools.