Reflection+week+4

This week our team worked on the assessment survey tool for our students. As we formulated our questions we focused on what we really wanted to know about our students’ needs. We also thought about how their responses would affect the types of lessons we would prepare and what types of technology we could utilize.

This week’s lesson dealt with helping our students gain 21st century skills and putting them to use. Many of the concepts are not new. For example, the idea of building understanding across the curriculum by using themes has been discussed for many years. The thought of having students use and apply their knowledge and understanding to the real world helps make their learning more meaningful and relevant. Plus this relevancy makes for deeper understanding.

Today’s world focuses much more on teamwork and the ability to work with others. Students must be able to generate ideas and also refine and change those ideas to improve them. Being able to work in this manner allows more creative and effective products. This new way of thinking is much different from just memorizing facts and data. Students also need to understand that it’s ok to make mistakes. Making mistakes should be an opportunity to learn.

Students today are already very savvy in their use of media messaging. Their very world revolves around text messaging and social networking websites. The educational setting however, has been very slow to catch up. There are many avenues to be explored when working with media. For example, the reasons for media messaging and who the intended audience will be needs to be considered. What are the ethical and legal issues in using this outlet? As we work through this class,I am learning a great deal about 21st century skills and what it will take to bring these into the classroom. I’m sure I can also learn a great deal from my students!

To learn more about what media messaging actually is go to:

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