NETS-S

Explain how student use of communication, collaboration, and publishing Web 2.0 applications can help students to meet the NETS-S.

The NETS-S are very important to incorporate into our classrooms.  They are six standards that will create students who will be able to work and successfully navigate a new and changing global workforce.  The six standards are:

1.     Creativity and Innovation

2.     Communication and Collaboration

3.     Research and Information Fluency

4.     Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

5.     Digital Citizenship

6.     Technology Operations and Concepts 

The first standard Creativity and Innovation and the second standard Communication and Collaboration work hand in hand.  The first standard encourages students to think critically and apply background knowledge to find new and innovative solutions.  It is important to collaborate while thinking outside of the box.  Collaboration fosters an environment where students can share their ideas and build off of each other’s ideas.  Communication is a key part of collaboration.  There are numerous Web 2.0 applications that can aid communication.  Skype will allow students to speak in real time. They can also use chatrooms like today’s meet to chat.  Speaklike.com has a built in translator which will enable students to collaborate on a global level.  Students can use Google Docs to share their work with other.  By using Wikispaces they can create a website in which all members will be able to edit and participate.  Students can also collaborate to create a glogster and prezi   

            By doing the above students naturally begin to develop and work on the fourth standard which is Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making.  By working together students will have to make decisions such as who should be the group leader, what time should they meet etc.  They also develop their problem solving skills by solving problems such as how do we work as a group if the members aren’t in the same time zone?  They must think critically to solve all of these problems as well as the problems presented by the assignment.

            As students begin problem solving and critical thinking they begin researching information.  A great way for students to share their information is through creating a diigo list.  The list will be available for all of the group members to access. 

            Through interaction with all of these Web 2.0 applications students will strengthen their technology skills.  They will become very competent in their abilities.  They will be able to foresee future problems as well solve unexpected technological problems.  They will also learn safe and responsible ways to use technology; they will understand the personal aspects behind technology.   

            It is very clear that these standards are extremely valuable and important to prepare our students for the changing world they will be entering as adults. 

PBL

I was very inspired by these projects.  Due to lack of funding, increased class size, state testing, lack of time, and numerous other changes teachers are often discouraged from taking on large projects.  The teachers who used these projects got around all of these obstacles and their students thrived. I was especially inspired by the Worms on Wall Street article.  My first two years of teaching I taught in Virginia.  I am very familiar with their Standards of Learning (SOL).  There were so many standards and they were so specific that I often felt pressured to just teach right off the standards list.  It was refreshing to see that the standards could still be incorporated into lessons that the students were picking.  If they can create projects like this in VA and do well on state testing I can certainly create a project here in Pennsylvania where my standards aren’t as detailed. 

The three projects all shared a common goal of wanting to provide real world learning while incorporating state standards.  In Newsome the students were able to pick what they wanted to study and the teachers worked with them to make sure that the standards were still incorporated.  In the architecture projects the students were not given as much freedom in picking a topic but they were free to explore areas of interest within architecture.  For example if a student was very interested in alternate forms of energy they could focus on that and make that a main design element of their school.  The March of the Monarchs project was structured but still allows the students some freedom to pick topics. 

.  The teachers play a very important role in the projects.  They are responsible for all of the initial planning and preparation.  They must guide the students and help to achieve success.  In the worm project the students initially wanted to learn about snakes.  The teacher did not tell them no she just asked them if they thought snakes would be easy to examine and obtain.  She helped guide them as a class to the decision of studying worms.  It is also the teacher’s responsibility that the standards are incorporated into the lessons and that the students are prepared for assessments in addition to the real world application. 

The students are held much more accountable in project based learning.  In these projects the students were responsible for creating their own projects, working with each other, and creating presentations.  Instead of being spoon fed the information they must learn by doing.  They then gain a  a working understanding of the information.  The students are more engaged in these projects because it actively affects them.  For example the students who are tracking the monarch butterflies are much more engaged by participating in the project.  When they leave the classroom they are looking for the butterflies.  The material becomes personal to them and they enjoy it more.  They also obtain a working knowledge of the information.  The geometry students learn firsthand how math is used in the real world and the importance that it plays. The student who had the Flower Power flower shop gained valuable information on how the stock market works and how easily a takeover can happen if you aren’t careful. 

Instead of focusing on the negatives the teachers responsible for these projects focused on the benefits.  Not only did test scores improve but so did attendance, participation, and student confidence.