Must-have resource designed to assist K-12 educational organizations in planning out and launching their 21st century classrooms

Tutor.com connects students with live tutors online for tutoring in math, science, social studies, and English and is the largest online tutoring and homework help service around.  Tutor.com (with help from a $1.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) is expanding its horizons to help teachers as well. 

Grants are being awarded to teachers to give them professional development and professional development models that will provide them with one-on-one support for math teachers this year.

Approximately 200 algebra teachers from selected schools will be able to access the service beginning in September 2011 and running through December 2012. Participating teachers will be able to connect with online teaching coaches for on-demand, one-to-one live help from Sunday through Thursday, 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. local time. Coaches will be standing by and will provide live help within minutes of a teacher request, Tutor.com says.

Research has proven that one of the most important factors in a student’s academic success is the quality of his or her classroom teacher. To maintain excellence in teaching, school districts must find new ways to provide the guidance and help that teachers need every day. But too often, professional development for teachers means sitting in a room and listening to a lecture a few times each year. Tutor.com believes that, to significantly move the needle on teacher effectiveness, schools and districts must provide new ways to support their teachers.

What does a 21st Century Connected classroom look like?

1. Information and communications skills - The teacher\facilitator communicates to students how to process information that is being taught in the classroom through tools such as word, power point, e-mail, search engines, etc.... 
2. Thinking and problem-solving skills - The teacher\facilitator communicates problem -solving tools such as spreadsheets and design tools to problem solve, critical thinking, creativity, etc...
3. Interpersonal and self-directional skills - The teacher\facilitator communicates how to use personal development and productivity tools such as e-learning and collaboration tools to enhance productivity, performance and personal development.
4. Use digital technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate and evaluate information; Construct new knowledge; Communicate with others effectively. Examples: Using 21st Century tools such as: word processing, e-mail, presentation software, the Internet, spreadsheets, decision support programs, design tools, e-learning, time management programs, and collaboration tools) combined with learning skills in core subjects equals 21st Century Skills (ICT Literacy)Teach and learn in a 21st century context. 
5. Learn academic content through real-world examples - Teachers\Facilitators, central office personnel, administration, etc... MUST be on board and realize that learning must expand beyond the four classroom walls.  Teach and learn 21st century content(3 emerging content areas) Global awareness Financial, economic and business literacy, and Civic literacy.  

Why do we need to build 21st Century Classroom Skills with our Students?

21 st Century Skills – What Are We Really Talking About?

I’ve come to find that the term “21 st century skills” is a little like “family values”.  We’re all in favor of the idea; we’re just not always sure what we mean.  To me, 21st Century Skills means: critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and innovation, adaptability, collaboration, communication (written, oral and blended and advanced media), media literacy, self direction and self assessment, and application of technology to learned skills.
The application of 21 st century skills requires context.  In order to think critically, we must have knowledge we can bring to bear to a process or problem. Academic content must be integral to the learning process.  Contrary to some recent debates on the subject of 21st century skills, it is not a question of skills vs. content. The challenge is to merge the two into engaging, relevant learning experiences.
              

What exactly is the 21st Century Classroom?

Today, many educators, policy makers, parents, and even the general public respond with "That's impossible!" when challenged to adopt a new development of education for the 21st century.  Most people today can't escape the idea of education that is strictly 19th century.  However, a growing number of educators are believing in and accomplishing "the impossible" idea that will successfully lead students into the 21st Century successfully!

So what is 21st century education?  It is bold.  It breaks the mold.  It is flexible, creative, challenging, and complex.  It addresses a rapidly changing world filled with fantastic new problems as well as exciting new possibilities.  Fortunately, there is a growing body of research supporting an increasing number of 21st century schools. We have living proof, inspiring examples to follow, in schools across the United States. 

Twitter in Education

I teach gifted and talented to 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th graders. Presently, I don’t have Twitter set up for classroom use, as it is not allowed by our Board of Education. Twitter could be a valuable tool to any classroom teacher as it will involve student interaction. Students get excited about social media...so, my thinking is...why not use something they are excited about to enhance their learning experience in the classroom. I see many ways in which twitter would be valuable in my classroom.


• An announcement board

•Students could tweet about the day’s events

•Twitter is also a good way to send out extra information as you find it without filling up your students' inboxes with links. You can tweet links to news stories, important websites, or even the Twitter profiles of political leaders. You can even use URL-shortening services like TinyURL or Is.gd to create a compact version of your link so you can use the rest of your characters to give a short description.

•Twitter breeds the ability to communicate in short, meaningful bursts. It forces people to be concise and to get right to the point. This is an important skill to cultivate and assignments on Twitter give students the opportunity to work on this ability.

•Encourage collaboration and peer feedback. Post a link or a question for students to respond to together using @replies (Twitter's system of responding to a single person) or #trends (Twitter's system of grouping a group of tweets under the umbrella of a keyword). This will capitalize on the things learned in the lesson and continue active learning beyond the classroom.

•Use your Tweets to share information like:

◦the weather in your part of the world

◦what you are teaching/learning in class

◦to ask other classes questions

◦share special days

◦post links to fun web-based activities

◦write short poems

◦shared writing/shared reading

◦start book conversations

◦we can use Twitter apps like Twitpic to share pictures, etc.

How do Children Benefit from Making a Podcast?

When children make podcast, they get many advantages, for example: they get a potential audience of thousands for their work.  Literacy skills (writing scripts, setting up interviews etc), are strengthened also, which allows children to develop and practice their speaking and listening skills, teamwork strengthening, etc...

Teachers can also make their podcast (and students podcast) can be interactive, where the audience can be invited to send their comments, giving valuable feedback to the children about their work.

 The ideas on what to do for a podcast is endless: school news - a great way of telling children and parents what is going on at your school; student work - children love sharing their work; ask them to record their own stories, or write reports about an activity they've tried at school; interviews - with members of staff, children, members of the community, and visitors to school; Music - Please be aware that you will not be allowed to use commercial music in podcast for copyright reasons. However, some artists allow their music to be played in a podcast. You can find this "pod safe" music in special directories (e.g. music.podshow.com); etc...

Using Wiki Workspace in Education

A wiki makes an easy shell for electronic portfolios where students can display and discuss their work with others.  It would also be an excellent forum for peer editing and peer feedback to help students improve their writing skills. 

A wiki could be set up for middle or high school students to brainstorm ideas for and plan science fair projects. Initially it would mostly be brainstorming, posting ideas and information to back them up. As they begin to flesh out the ideas that they are interested in, small groups might form to work on individual projects, but could still contribute ideas to other projects. The teacher can act as a facilitator by offering suggestions and asking probing questions to get students to consider particular aspects in the planning of their projects. The wiki could also be used to record and organize data, and plan eventual papers/presentations.

Elementary students could answer questions about the material and pose questions within their literacy circles. A Wiki would be a perfect way to integrate technology into thier Lit Cirles. Instead of sharing their thoughts on paper, they could post them to the wiki, respond to their peers thoughts or questions and best of all perserve this work for the next class to review at sometime during ther exploration of the same novel.

Using Wikis in the Classroom

Using Podcasting to enhance Social Learning

Pod Casting for Students



Pod casting facilitates instruction in many K-12 (and collegiate level) settings. Dlott (2007) demonstrated pod casting's efficacy in teaching geography, history and poetry writing. Pod casting allowed for the inclusion of music and sound effects in teaching descriptive language, writing styles and oral expression. Pod casting also facilitated students' efforts to test the sound of their voices in a non-threatening way, causing Dlott (2007) to consider it an appropriate tool to develop effective communicators. Dlott's efforts combined pod casting with other digital technology tied to the internet.

Facebook and Education: the Pros and Cons

Facebook, the popular social networking website, was the topic of discussion at the first Teaching and Learning with Technology Speaker Series session of 2009. Originally launched in 2004, by a Harvard student, Facebook began as a social networking website created exclusively for post-secondary students. Currently, Facebook has over 150 million active users worldwide, and has expanded to allow anyone with a valid email address to sign up. As it has gained in popularity, Facebook has become one of the main communication tools used by university students to stay in touch with friends, organize events, and connect with classmates.

Pro: Students and Educators use Innovative Strategies on Facebook
Social software tools such as weblogs and wikis are already being used for educational purposes at UBC, but can Facebook be used in an academic setting? Philip Jeffrey, an Interdisciplinary Studies graduate student, brought forth a few examples of how Facebook has been used by students and educators to quickly inform and communicate with others in the larger community. Philip found out about the potential closure of the UBC Aquatic Centre weight room through a friend on Facebook. Partly due to awareness-raising on Facebook, a grassroots movement formed that eventually over-turned the administration’s decision to close the gym. Recently, a York University anti-strike group has formed and, with over 4,500 members, the Facebook page has become a place where people go to get the latest information about the strike. Some universities are even using Facebook to recruit students.

Cyprien Lomas, Director of the Learning Centre in Land and Food Systems, added another example of how the Faculty’s student advising office is using Facebook to connect with and inform students. According to Cyprien, “the interesting difference with using Facebook is that often students will take pieces of information and then repeat it back to their own constituent groups…students [are] mentoring and advising other students on affairs that matter to them and also matter to us.”

Cyprien also discovered that some students are using the site to facilitate online discussion groups. Even though students have access to WebCT Vista, and can use its discussion forum to interact with other students, some are choosing to use Facebook because it is their preferred place to communicate online. Students themselves say “well, why don’t we put it in a place where we know it’s going to work…and move it into Facebook?” Cyprien notes that “whether or not we like it…we may see more and more examples of this,” which is of concern because many Facebook users are not aware of the privacy issues related to the popular social networking tool.

Con: Privacy Concerns - Is Facebook Right for the Classroom?

Questions were raised from the audience about whether Facebook can be used in the classroom for academic purposes. The third member of the panel, Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian Sheryl Adam, raised concerns over the disclosure of personal information on the site. “Can we require that students be involved in something that requires them to put personal information on a server in the United States? I don’t think so,” asserts Sheryl. A larger discussion broke out amongst the audience, and the room came to a general understanding that if you expect students to interact with you or your Facebook group for a course, then you are requiring them to be involved in something that they may or may not know a whole lot about. For instance, users might not know that when using an application in Facebook, they are allowing the application to collect data from their Facebook profile. Philip notes that there is a “higher level of trust” amongst friends on Facebook, which may lead many to overlook the fact that if they are not careful with their privacy settings and use of applications, they might be disclosing personal information to complete strangers.

You also cannot require a student to use Facebook, as not all of them will want to share their personal information with their classmates and instructor. If there is any UBC-sanctioned involvement using a tool that stores data in the United States, there has to be an option for the students to preserve their anonymity. The fact that this is not possible with Facebook (which has its servers located in the United States) raises a bigger issue: users should be concerned with how secure the service is, where the data sits, who owns the content, and how it is being used. Cyprien notes that this is not just a Facebook issue, but a general IT issue. “If you ask me how secure Facebook is, I would say not secure enough if you are worried about it,” remarks Cyprien.

Even though many students are using Facebook to communicate with their peers, it does not necessarily mean that they will want to use Facebook in an educational setting. Sheryl originally joined Facebook to communicate with her students in a space that is comfortable for them. However, she has discovered that students have not communicated with her on Facebook, but are instead using other forms of communications such as email, telephone, and MSN Messenger. For Sheryl, Facebook “seems like the wrong place for a professional-student relationship. It seems to be more [for] peer-to-peer relationships.”

Another drawback of using Facebook in the classroom is that students will have to go to another location (other than WebCT Vista) to access their course information. Sheryl points out that this fragmentation of course information is “a big disservice no matter how convenient the communication piece.” She points to the advantages of WebCT Vista, which centralizes information and allows students to access course materials “all in one house.”

So What Now?

Some attendees said that they would like to see more centralized resources and guidance to inform students, faculty, and staff about social networking tools (like Facebook) in order to build awareness of privacy concerns and the pros and cons of their use. Attendees also thought that members of the UBC community need to be educated about these tools. Infoation resources, such as the Digital Tattoo Project (which Sheryl is a part of), have been created to educate students, faculty, and staff about online usage, but still more needs to be done.

Cyprien suggested that we could start leveraging connections at other schools to come to a solution for a broader community. If UBC is struggling with this issue, other educational institutions must be too. It was here that Sheryl offered up the example of RefWorks, which used to be hosted on an American server. To address privacy concerns, a consortium of Canadian libraries banded together to move RefWorks data onto a Canadian server. Such a consortium could be beneficial when addressing the use of social networking tools in an educational setting, eventually helping UBC solidify a strategy for addressing issues that arise with the increased popularity of these tools.

http://update.estrategy.ubc.ca/2009/02/03/facebook-and-education