BRMS ITRT

Take a 10 minute break right now.

This is an interesting video about collaboration and the social shift it brings with it. Clay Shirkey, talks about the time, energy and potentials that used to be lost to dumbly watching TV. How many Wikipedia entries could we get out of these brain cycles now that we can free up that TV time for more productive and satisfying activities again?

the Television Bureau of Advertising reports that while TV viewing among adults has increased by double digits since 1988 (12% for women, 15% for men), viewership by teens and children has been basically flat.

And that’s scary news to those who’d previously thought the internet was a passing fad, that YouTube and Wikipedia would fade away. A 2005 Pew Internet Project study revealed demands by teens for participation and sharing in all media. (see previous post)

And….are our preschoolers really looking for a mouse?

Here’s the talk transcribed: http://www.herecomeseverybody.org/2008/04/looking-for-the-mouse.html

The Pew Internet & American Life Project and the College Board’s National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools and Colleges released a report yesterday and the findings present some interesting data on teens perspective on writing. The report, “Writing, Technology and Teens,” is based on a survey conducted last year of 700 children from ages 12 to 17, each accompanied by a parent, in addition to eight focus groups in four different cities.

*93 percent of respondents said they wrote for their own pleasure outside of school, and evidence suggests that an increasing fraction of that writing is done online, either on social networking sites or in blogs. But in class, 82 percent said their assignments tend to be a paragraph to a page long. Part of the problem, the authors suggested, is finding ways to move that excitement about writing into rich, engaging assignments in the classroom.

*86% percent of respondents think that writing is important to their future success. At the same time, 85 percent of them use “some form of electronic personal communication” - such as e-mail, instant messaging and text messages - on at least an occasional basis, even though most of them don’t classify it as “writing” per se. (read pages 35-36)

Question to consider: How do we find ways to move that excitement about writing into rich, engaging assignments in the classroom?

Several of you have asked about starting a blog for your class. This is an excellent tool for students. If you are interested in learning more about how blogs work and how to use them in your classes, please let me know.

The full report can be found at:

http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/247/report_display.asp

Many teachers ask how technology can be integrated with Marzano’s strategies to improve student learning. Marzano, Pickering and Pollock identified nine strategies that have the “highest probability of enhancing student achievement for all students in all subject areas at all grade levels.” Below is an excellent link that provides a chart showing those nine strategies with their corresponding average percentile point gains on student achievement tests and well as example applications you can use in the classroom. http://gets.gc.k12.va.us/VSTE/2008/