Reflection on “Knowledge, the disciplines, and learning in the Digital Age” by Jane Gilbert

After reading and discussing the article by Gilbert our group found that many of the learning outcomes in the content areas we explored (math, science, language arts) were connected in some way with Language Arts. Language Arts seems to tie them together. Other groups that explored different content areas found that just about all content areas overlapped some how. Things such as analyzing, summarizing, questioning, predicting, connecting - the higher order thinking skills were often found to overlap between disciplines.

Technology can be used to link together content areas and promote higher order thinking skills if we plan very carefully and delibrately for this to occur. Students would benefit from this, as they may begin to see ‘the bigger picture’. Blogging, for instance, can link together content areas with Language Arts. Students use writing skills to post and would need to use skills such as evaluating and analyzing to respond to the posts of others. Students could connect with other classes and compare results of an inquiry

My thought on how can technology be used across the content areas

Examples:

1) wikis and blogs

-could be used to store necessary facts (rather than using a textbook or memorizing)

-allow students to share results and thinking with others
- to receive feedback to further build understanding

-would be possible to interact with others both locally and globally

-can be used to promote critical thinking (evaluating, synthesizing, questioning, analyzing) as they read and respond to the work of others They will need to think critically about what they are reading to respond in comment form. These tools will allow students to connect with others who may extend their thinking because of differing viewpoints.

2) digital cameras

- to document, record data a real world problem and solutions, could be used as a sort of photo story rather than the traditional write it down approach, adding to the multi-modal literacies mentioned in the article

Goals for Fall 2010

Goal for Fall 2010

So far I have used technology tools to research and collect information online and to create a product. I did a project at the end of last year which would fall into this category (see posts below). In a nutshell, I had students create a page for a nonfiction book about something of interest found on school grounds. This year I’d like to take it a step further. I want them to investigate the creek behind the school and the quality of the water within as part of our Natural Resources study. As far as I know, this creek has not been studied previously and is so small it often does not make it onto maps. Students will formulate an open-ended question and take photos to help them answer their question. I am hoping that students will present their pages to their peers and then to their parents and ?.

This relates to NETS 2b) : design or adapt relevant learning experiences that

incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student

learning and creativity.

I am hoping to head towards being proficient where NETS state that teachers design and customize technology-enriched learning experiences that engage students in developing research questions about real-world issues or problems, proposing and evaluating multiple creative solutions and presenting a report to an audience either fact-to-face or virtually, for feedback.

The one capacity in this program that I think that I need to work on is “participate in and help develop learning communities to support your teaching practice”. I might be able to make gains in this area by learning about the Smart board my school has had installed and hold lunch time sessions to help those who wish to learn more about the Smart board do so. While I have a blog that I do make occasional posts on, I could post more and definitely comment more on the blogs of others. I would like to learn more about Twitter, which I have heard good things about but have not been able to get into as of yet. I would like to learn more about it and give it another try.