Module 7 Activity 5 - Engaging 21st century learners

Teachers cannot continue to do things the way things have been done for decades.  The new thrust is to engage 21st century learners and this requires the teacher to apply the principles of relating learning to real world situations, creating an environment where learning is fun and takes place in an atmosphere of mutual respect and providing the opportunities for students to share learning/knowledge.  These principles are enhanced when teams are formed for collaboration, cooperation and communication, investigating issues, documenting and producing information in its various forms, and providing the students with opportunities to conduct peer assessment and critical thinking.

This encourages me to become involved in knowledge building and build my technical capacity in order to engage my students.  Learning to integrate ICT into my teaching learning emvironment will be necessary if I intent to meaningfully engage my students.

Module 7 Activity 4 - Knowledge Building

This activity focused me to better understand how to build knowldege in students and not to provide them with already-made knowledge.  In understaning this strategy, I must:
1. Align learning with 21st century skills (assessing and analysing information, critical thinking, problem solving, agility and adaptability, entrepreneuralism, curiosity and imagination and effective communication.
2. When students build knowledge they are engaged in interpretation, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
3. Connect all the subject areas which have similar content to be taught.  This will ensure understanding and retention of knowledge.
4. Utilize technology to enhance knowledge building and to have students collaborating and cooperating with each other and to acquire relevant information.
5. Create an environment where students have fun while learning.
6. To have students engage in knowledge building, be creative in selecting issues which are current, relevant and interesting to students, and align this to a project which can be used as a communit service project.
 

Module 7 Activity 3 - Critical Thinking

In encouraging students to become critical thinkers it causes me to become a critical thinker as well.  One notes the leading questions used to stimulate thought and in order to acquire the skill of critical thinking, there are standards which ought to be employed. These are: be clear, logical, fair, accurate and relevant.  We are living in an era where information is critically analysed for its correctness and teachers are to ensure that the students acquire the skills needed to do this and which can be achieved through further questioning.
This activity helped me to further understand how many subject areas can be incorporated and linked to one project in an interesting and collaborative way.

Module 7- Activity 2 - A vision for my subject in the 21st century

The importance of this activity was to get me thinking on the way forward to realizing the goal of ICT integration in my subject area.  I am now required to ensure that learning for 21st century students align with how they function and use technology.  It afforded me the the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues on best practices to be employed and focused me to new ways of upgrading and acquiring new skills in order to effect the required change.

Module 7 Activity 1: What is 21st century learning?

This module is quite interesting and I am becoming excited to see where it leads.  I believe that this module is timely as more and more I am realizing that the ways in which I have done things in the past are not working for the times in which we now live.  Indeed, it encourages me to change by employing today's trends as far as practicably possible.

Module 4 Activity 8 - Planning an assessment strategy

A carefully planned and executed assessment strategy is important to the teaching learning process.  As teachers plan the assessment strategy it needs to be remembered that this ought to be aligned to the learning outcomes.  Assessment strategies provide students with a wide range of learning experiences which integrate ICT and which allow students to function outside of the mundane classrooms of chalk and talk and exercise books.  These strategies as well, allow for the integration of other subject areas thereby improving on students competencies across the board.
As teachers employ assessment strategies they open avenues for students to acquire additional skills which they would not have received in regular lessons.  These include cooperative and group dynamic skills, critical thinking skills and improved active listening skills.
I have found this activity to be challenging but rewarding as here on our island, assessment strategies are not written in this great detail.  Further, assessment tools are not usually those which feature rubrics and checklists and this would be a welcomed addition into the curriculum at my school.

Module 4 Activity 7 - Giving feedback

In any learning environment , feedback plays an important role as it describes the areas for improvement, strengths and weaknesses and avenues to take to advance future learning.  As feedback is given, it ought to be done constructively and in a spirit of co-operation and support.  The inividual providing the feedback ought not to be swayed to providing all negative comments but should marry negative comments with the positive comments as well.
When receiving comments, individuals are called to listen without interrupting and to keep an open mind since the information given seeks to improve learning and behaviour.
This might be a bit challenging for some as when persons are confronted with areas that they need to improve on become rather defensive and turned off from the issues which try to improve and not hurt.