Feel free to comment!

If you haven't had the chance to go back to week #1 discussion on "No More Tech for Tech's Sake" take some time to go back and read/respond to each other. Week #1 Discussion
Mary and I appreciate your thoughtful interpretaton of the current state of technology implementation and your ideas for how to best equip teachers for the incoming technology. Hopefully you have had a chance to read Jamie McKenzie's article on "The New Plagerism"

"We are suffering from a cut-and-paste culture bred by the ease with which any of us can locate and save information. Sadly, Google and its relatives give us all a false sense of security and wisdom as we can search for something as elusive as "the truth" and Google delivers an answer in less than ten seconds.

Schools and districts committed to 21st Century Skills as well as the standards of AASL and ISTE must confront this cut-and-paste culture head-on, eliminating those classroom practices that encourage and promote such lazy thinking and research, replacing them with activities that are more challenging and more worthwhile." Jamie McKenzie

In the short time that we have spent together, I am hoping that you are seeing the importance of analyzing the type of thinking you are asking students to do and beginning to see the possibilities of using technology tools to engage them in higher order thinking skills.

So little time . . .

I am experiencing a bittersweet reaction to our work together. Inspired and excited by our discussions and explorations, yet frustrated at our lack of time together. There are so many concepts and tools we would like to share with you. We seem to walk away feeling like we have overwhelmed you with information, not our version of effective teaching.
We need your feedback to help us move forward with instruction without creating "infowhelm".
Clearly, this should be a two credit course, yes? In the meantime, we'd like to develop a second course that continues the work we have started.
Thank you for your thoughtful engagement in our class so far. I look forward to continuing our dialog and work together next week!

Creating a blog in 3 steps

Grab yourself a blog in 3 steps:
1. Create an account
Google asks you for an email address - this becomes your username.

Note:
->You do not need a Gmail account.
->Remember to write down your Username and Password.

2. Go to Blogger.com and click CREATE. Name your blog
Remember that the whole web world can see your blog title and blog address. You probably don’t want to use your real name. Consider creating a blog name that’s anonymous, yet uniquely you. The URL for your blog will look like these examples - http://librarywriting.blogspot.com/ or http://preilly.wordpress.com/ or http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/ (these are real blogs so of course you need to give your own blog its own unique name.) The format is name.blogspot.com when you use blogger.com software. Note: There are no www in the address when using Blogger.com software. Please remember your URL address and/or bookmark it.

We recommend: Use a name or "handle" as follows: [FIRST NAME or NICKNAME]ASDLA -- for example, http://henkeasdla.blogspot.com/ or http://stacyasdla.blogspot.com/

3. Select your template.
Blogger has several templates - have fun choosing one for you! If you run into problems, check out Blogger's Help file and Tutorial or ask us!

Teaching the New Writing to Bloom Up the 21st Century Classroom

"Writing aids in cognitive development to such an extent that the upper reaches of Bloom's taxonomy could not be reached without the use of some form of writing" (Bonnie Kuhrt and Pamela Farris)

What does writing mean in the digital age? I am intrigued by the notion of composition. In the 21st century digital classroom, what does it mean when we require our students to have 1 semester of composition to graduate? How does our teaching of writing need to evolve in order to help prepare our students for the writing they will need to do in the work place and in further post-secondary educational venues?

In 2008, the new NAEP Framework in Writing took the unprecedented step of requiring students to compose on computers. This means that in 2011, mass assessment in writing will need to accommodate new digital tools. So we need to urgently and excitedly ask: what does writing mean in a digital age? And how is this writing necessary in terms of helping our students articulate the upper echelons of the new Bloom's taxonomy? Analyzing, evaluating, creating... digital writing allows students to collage. That is, students can now process and create text mosaics that allow readers to juxtapose multiple texts simultaneously. The idea behind juxtaposition is that the meaning of the sum of the whole is greater than each piece in isolation. With digital writing, writers routinely and easily blend image, audio, text, and movement in their compositions. Writing becomes an even more dynamic, fluid, and organic tool through the digital medium. This is truly exciting!

As educators, we must begin to conceptualize these new convergences: teaching, learning, and assessment will need to address this acceleration and transformation of writing. I am so excited to entertain the new forms and genres that will surely grow out of these new formations. I am ready to play: bring on reinvention and regeneration of writing! Students are now evolving from being producers of print text to designers and composers using vast resources to make and share meaning. How can we provide writing venues for students to evolve into these new roles?