I'd love to hear your reactions to this video by the Fine Brothers I found on c/net. Click the title to read the article and view the video:  

'Devil camera': '90s point-and-shoot horrifies tech-savvy kids

Watch the next generation of photographers attempt to use a camera with actual film. Get ready to feel old thanks to the latest "Kids React" video from The Fine Brothers.

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Great article on the changing landscape of teaching, learning, and the classroom.

8 Tips For Updating Your Teaching To Something Messier http://t.co/9Usila8SPQ via @TeachThought

— Angela Maiers (@AngelaMaiers) April 21, 2014

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Reading and the Common Core

There has been a lot of discussion and concern among English teachers lately regarding the push toward reading more nonfiction and informational texts as suggested by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). While there is an increased emphasis on reading non-literary texts, two things must be considered before everyone goes into an all-out panic.

First, making sure students understand nonfiction and informational material is not the sole responsibility of English teachers. Every subject has required reading -- science, history, math, and the rest -- and for the most part (now this is critical to understanding my point, so pay attention) it is nonfiction and informational texts! Subject area teachers outside the realm of English Language Arts should be as concerned about their students understanding of the material they ask them to engage with as much as anyone, and I’m sure they are. If a student in chemistry is having trouble understanding instructions to conduct a lab experiment, I’m sure the chemistry teacher will happily coach them through rather than send them off to their English teacher for a quick tutorial.

Second, reading fiction and literary texts has significant value that must not be dismissed or diminished. A January 13th, 2014 article in Education Week Teacher article entitled Study: Novel Reading Generates Sustained Boost in Neural Connectivity, notes: “A new study out of Emory University offers hard evidence that reading novels is more than just high-level entertainment. It also appears to be good for your brain” (Rebora). The study demonstrates that reading novels, “heightened connectivity (compared with baseline scans) in the areas of the brain associated with language receptivity and representative understanding—that is, grasping or sensing things you aren't literally experiencing.” Furthermore, “The heightened activity in these areas of the brain was apparent even days after the students had been actively reading the book, suggesting that something akin to muscle memory was activated.”

The Common Core is here for now and probably for quite some years to come. Public school educators experience new challenges and initiatives all the time; it goes with the turf. But how we deal with these challenges relies on our clear understanding of what is expected and how we choose to address those expectations.

Question: What do you see as the best way to approach literacy expectations of the Common Core?  

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What's the appeal of the flipped classroom?

A recent eClassroomNews article, One startling fact about flipped learning, notes that,  “flipped learning—defined...as using lecture videos as homework while using class time for more in-depth learning such as discussions, projects, experiments, and to provide personalized coaching to individual students—is surpassing all other digital trends in K-12 schools.” This sounds fine, but I am having difficulty seeing how this is so different from practices of the past. Students have long been expected to read, watch a news segment or video, do research and so forth in order to be engaged with discussion, collaboration, and project creations that take place in the classroom. So why the term “flipped” learning? Is it because more media is available to students from places such as YouTube and Vimeo, so much so that a new catchphrase is warranted?

The Internet is inundated with videos and screencasts of lectures, science experiments, how-to’s, TED talks and more. Much more. Content is certainly available, and if it does not meet a specific need, teachers can record their own presentation, lecture, or lesson and upload it to YouTube. I especially like when teachers make this extra effort; it personalizes the learning a bit more and increases the connection between teacher and student, which is always valuable.
 

As I mentioned, flipped learning sounds like a fine concept; I’m just not convinced that it’s revolutionary. It seems like only Substitution, or Augmentation at best, in the hierarchy of the SAMR model, though I can see it moving up the scale in the hands of a creative teacher. And perhaps that is the appeal. Flipping the learning allows a teacher to engage with students a little bit differently at first, but allows them to grow and be creative in their practice as they become more comfortable with the concept. Any activity that helps teachers effectively engage and prepare students growing up in the digital age is worthwhile in my book.

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Textbooks and the Digital Future

Many conversations in public education have focused lately on the death of the textbook as we know it. There are many contributing factors: content material being outdated upon publication, cost, and the sheer weight of textbook-loaded backpacks that raise health concerns for our children. Virtually all of the world’s information is accessible, well...virtually, which brings into question the life expectancy of static textbooks in our digital future.

I have seen a number of digital textbooks from major publishers that have been very impressive. Simply being able to immediately link to ancillary material such as videos, screencasts, or related images and articles adds much to a lesson on the JFK assassination or the power and influence of the Medici family during the Renaissance. This feature alone gives strength to the argument for switching to digital textbooks. Add to this the notion of always having the most current information available at your fingertips and it’s easy to imagine traditional paper textbooks going the way of the scroll, the Pony Express, and the telegraph.

I want to be clear that I’m not advocating for digital textbooks so much as I am for providing access to information that addresses various learning styles through multiple mediums and rich content. Digital textbooks provide one step that schools and educators can take toward preparing our kids for the future, but they are merely one element on the continuum of learning.

We want our students to learn, to be able to interact with society in meaningful ways, and to become productive, healthy, and preferably happy citizens. The world has passed the tipping point regarding digital media and knowledge acquisition. Our students need access to information as it is produced in today’s world, not the romanticized formats of the past.

(Interesting note: while writing this post, I received an email from a publisher offering deep discounts on their paper books. Good luck with that.)

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