Week 4B Reading Summary

AASL Learning Standards

         Reading is a foundational skill for learning, enjoyment, and personal growth.  In order to be successful, students must be able to understand texts in all formats.  In order to become independent learners, students must gain skills, and the dispositions to use those skills, as well as an understanding of their own responsibilities and self-assessment strategies.  Students must also be taught to seek different perspectives, use information ethically, and to use social tools responsibly and safely.  Technology skills must also be taught, as they are crucial for future employment needs. 

            Learners use skills, resources, and tools to:

·      Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.

·      Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.

·      Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.

·      Pursue personal and aesthetic growth. 

The AASL learning standards consist of skills, dispositions in action, responsibilities, and self-assessment strategies that cover each of these uses. 

Education for the 21^st Century

        

         The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills has presented six elements of a 21^st century education, and a framework, or vision for teaching and learning in the 21^st Century. 

            The elements of a 21^st Century education include focusing on the core subjects, as well as 21^st century content areas (global awareness; financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy; civic literacy; and health / wellness awareness.  These elements specifically address important learning and thinking skills.  In addition, students and educators must have Information and Communications Technology literacy, and use technology in the context of teaching and learning.  Elements of the partnership’s framework include standards, curriculum, environment, and assessments that districts must implement. 

            21^st Century learners are shaped in part by their immediate, engaging, fast-paced, media-rich environment.  Through constant exposure to these factors, and access to a variety of digital media, they are engaged and motivated to learn through the use of digital technologies.  For this reason, these factors are also changing teaching.  Teaching methods must adapt to align with students’ methods of learning.  21^st century educators must be adaptors, visionaries, collaborators, risk takers, learners, communicators, models, and leaders. 

            Resources, skills, and curriculum work together to facilitate the integration and implementation of ICT.  If any of these factors is absent, the level of integration is impaired. 

·      Resources

o   A classroom fully equipped with resources and materials is more likely to achieve success than a poorly resourced one.

·      Skills

o   Skills fall into two categories: pedagogical and technical.  Pedagogical skills are more important.  A teacher’s ability to use a variety of pedagogical strategies is key to integration.

·      Curriculum

o   Curriculum must reflect 21^st century learning, and the world in which our students live. 

Teaching and learning spaces must also change to reflect the paradigm shift we are experiencing.  Many classrooms have improved, but too many are designed for the traditional methods of teacher-centric teaching.  Classrooms must be able to adapt to different needs of the learner and the lesson.