Initially, what impressed me about The Beacon School was their multimedia program. I show a couple of their student-produced videos regularly as examples of what students can produce within the context of a creative curriculum-based assignment.
But their formula is simple. All assignments must be turned in digitally � no paper. We struggle with what it looks like to integrate technology into the curriculum, but this is it. It�s simple. Do it digitally. You tell students to do it. You make it the assignment, and you base part of the assessment on the quality of the student�s communication.
. . . The school itself was not especially tech-rich. The computers I saw were not brand new and they were not plentiful. But agreement was that in the 21st century, students� work should be digital.
I'm not sure we're quite ready for 100% of their turned in assignments to be digital, but I do think that we need to consider this idea that - in the 21st century - most of their work should be digital. It's this idea of connectivism - that any kind of turned-in "assignment" that is not digital is too limited these days, because it eliminates the connections to a larger pool of knowledge. Which is more valuable - and more relevant - an assignment that's printed out on paper (and therefore static), or a digital version (which not only can have links, but can actually be updated when new knowledge becomes available or the students' ideas change over time)?
No comments:
Post a Comment