21st+Century+Schools

=21st Century Schools: Learning in the Digital Age=

1. Teachers are tapping into technology and digital media for learning. Watch //How Google Saved a School// and discuss the hype and the hopes for improving education through technology by using the discussion tab above. You should begin by responding with your own ideas, then read your partners' responses and respond to their questions and opinions to the best of your ability.

2. As a group, embed the movie //How Google Saved a School// in the space provided between #2 and #3. Format the movie so it is horizontally centered on the screen. media type="custom" key="5726113" align="center"

3. Read the statements from the poll "Where do you stand". Choose the statement that you feel most strongly about (either for or against) and respond via the discussion tab above.

4. Complete the Old School, New School quiz. Click on the "Learn More" button on the bottom right hand side of the page to find out what category your responses place you in. List your first and last name in Column one of the table below and the "school" you fall into based off of your responses in column two. Click on the "Old school, new school" link at the bottom of the page to read and learn more about the category you fall into. After reading through the information, respond via the discussion board to the category you best fit.
 * = First and Last Name ||= Category you best fit into ||
 * = William Stelsel ||= New school ||
 * = Shannie Hiemstra ||= Hopeful ||
 * = Dallis Blitzke ||= New school ||
 * = Stasia Gebert ||= New School ||

5. Complete the video quiz on "Digital media index". Evaluate how your answers compare with the actual answers. Respond to the discussion board.

6. Read "What are the obstacles". Respond to the discussion board.

7. Read "Are Computers Used in Innovative Ways?" Respond to the discussion board.

8. View the three videos provided from "Digital Media & Learning". Respond to the discussion board. Embed the videos in the space between numbers 8 and 9.

9. Read through "Self-Assessment". Respond to the discussion board.

= More Reading =


 * 1) Each group member needs to individually read / analyze / scan the available resources in the "More Reading" tab of your assigned site.
 * 2) As a group you need to collaborate to create a summary of the contents of each resource in the space provided below.

= Resource Summaries = Teens benefit from media education because it is more uniform to their lifestyle. It would be hard for students to transition between reading a textbook at school and researching on the internet at home. Content on the internet is always updated whereas a textbook can be out-dated because it costs a lot to update it. The content presented in this article is written in paragraph form. Our group found that this article was not beneficial because of the length and how technical the content was. Another reason we found this article not beneficial was the content sticks to the main idea, but has unfinished thoughts. This article benefits educators because it's a toolkit for the framework of education. The content that is available is for educators to aid them in guiding the students on how to utilize their internet knowledge. The passage is presented in outline format using bullets. Our group thought that this article was beneficial because it's a book/internet site where educators can look to get help with teaching. This article is short, to the point, and user-friendly. //**What would Socrates say?**// The article doesn't seem to benefit anyone because instead of learning the material, people just research it, copy it onto paper, and hand it in. The content in this article explains the difference between actually learning and absorbing the material rather than just seeing it and copying it. This article presents the information to the reader in essay format. It starts with a thesis statement and then continues on with a paragraph below. It informs the reader that it's a media driven society and everyone in the world has Google at their fingertips. Learning doesn't require effort anymore. //**Edutopia**// The 13 different videos on this website benefit educators in our society because it's a link to different classrooms and different ideas. The content on this website ranges from teaching educators how to use today's technology to creating a fun way for students to learn through games. This site presents all of the information through different videos and links on the site. There seem to be just too many videos to watch and that isn't beneficial to students who have only a short period of class time to learn. Also, students would get bored listening to monotone videos. //**Activities for Students: Life Online**// This article benefits students by helping them recognize issues because of their use of digital media and addresses how they can communicate quickly with many people throughout the world. Basically the site has links and "help" menus for different networking sites. All of this information is presented in a slide-show/video format. This site is beneficial because there is a variety of different media teaching the information. This keeps the students interested and doesn't have them doing the same thing all day. //**National Association for Media Literacy Education**// This site benefits everyone because it has a variety of young and old opinions. The content that's available to people who visit the site is mainly opinions or opinion-based information brought by the readers themselves. The information is cited with links and in an outline form. This site is beneficial to people who are looking for answers, not necessarily facts. People who access this site are putting in their opinions that could possibly help solve problems for other readers.
 * //Confronting the Challenges of Participating Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century//**
 * //The Partnership for 21st Century Skills//**