Panning for Gold: Unpacking ISTE Standard for Students #3 "Knowledge Constructor"

"Knowledge Constructor: Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others." (ISTE Student Standard #3)

We as educators have a responsibility to equip all students for success. Technology often alleviates so much of the burdens and angst in the education process. We have to show students how to look for good resources, where to look for good resources, and beyond that, how to cite them appropriately. The ease of closeness of information has opened the door quickly for learning and access but we have to intentionally respond likewise. We cannot drag our feet as educators in helping our students understand what it means to be a knowledge constructor. We must prepare students to see technology as a tool and not just an overwhelming struggle for educational purposes.

This post is about teaching students the skills of becoming quality researchers. This includes discerning between good and bad digital resources. I think if we are honest with ourselves, we can all say we have fallen for "fake news" at some point. It isn't easy to spot and sometimes context clues are lacking. The same often holds true when doing research. We start teaching research skills in second grade. A website has been created that takes the students directly to some curated sites about Native Americans. I talk to them about clicking off webpages, double checking URLs, and that the word "search" is in RESEARCH. It's not a matter of opening a page, reading a few sentences, and writing down answers. They must pan through the fake gold to get to the good stuff! We talk about evidence to support evidence and not taking everything they see on the internet as the truth. I tell them if they can't find information on another source to support what they have learned then they need to look at the information through a much more critical eye. At that point, they are released to find the good stuff.

Teaching students to become quality knowledge constructors can happen with a small amount of technology in the classroom as well. The goal is to have students critically think about the information presented to them. I think this comes naturally for today's middle school student that is constantly connected. One of my coworkers (who happens to be the mom of teens) told me that we have a group of middle school students that would "fact check" teachers while they were teaching. Now mind you, these teachers didn't know they were being fact-checked (which is a whole different issue), but I wonder how often these students found something that contradicted what they were learning in class? Bigger yet, I wonder how often they brought it to the teacher's attention? Bigger still, I wonder how often a teacher could look beyond being called out and turn it into a teachable moment on knowledge construction?

Have you ever watched an assembly line? I think of knowledge constructor skills somewhat like the fryer line in our family's donut shop. There is a big vat of ooey gooey dough that is so heavy and hard to manage. To try something with that big vat is so overwhelming, so little by little we drop smaller amounts of all that ooey gooey goodness down into the fryer. They are cooked on one side, flipped, cooked on the other side, conveyed across the line to drain, covered with icing, and then patiently waiting to be devoured at the end of the line. The same thing happens with information. Our job is to help students sort through all the ooey gooey information, find a nugget of potential truth, run it through our critical eye, and turn it into something that is worthy being devoured by others- true knowledge!

Possible ways to lead students to become knowledge constructors in no tech, low tech, and high tech environments:
   
     ISTE Standard #3                     No Tech                         Low Tech                       High Tech

When an Edutechie's mind won't shut down...

Can being a connected educator be a bad thing? Hear me out. Every year at this time of year I find myself in an edufunk. What's an edufunk? It's that moment when you realize that some of the goals you had for the school year are not going to come to fruition. It's when you feel like you have been swimming upstream and you are just weary. It happened last March for me and now again this year. So I find myself reflecting.

I consider myself a hard core connected educator- like if I did tattoos, it might claim that on my forearm. Just kidding, but you get my love for connection. Being a connected educator helps me grow professionally, vet ideas for the future, reflect and evolve to better myself. Just like with all information on the internet, the amount of good stuff I see happening in schools or new ideas I see is overwhelming at times. The upside for me is that I can share the things I learn about with MANY different teachers. I'm not trying new things on the same students over and over.

I believe there is value in the tried and true. Many of our students need consistency in learning because constant change throws them into a state of disruption. Some kids just don't like change. I have a daughter like that. I am someone that loves surprises and I thrive on change and the unexpected, she melts down. For a while (much longer than I would like to admit) I saw this as a limitation for her and tried to change her. I now realize it takes all types to make the world go round. I push for new/different opportunities and she thrives in sameness.

I think it is good for her to be pushed out of her comfort zone some, but it is also good for me to find the balance in routine. This is where I think some teachers are pushing the innovation envelope too far. We, as educators, should always be trying new things to better meet the needs of our students but we also need consistency to know what works and what doesn't.

There is such a great wealth of teaching ideas and strategies out there for us on social media but we have a responsibility to curate that information. Some educators "ooo" and "ahh" over every new idea they see. I think owning a few new concepts and ideas yearly is a better direction for innovation. What are your goals?

• Do you want your students to be more connected to the outside world? Perhaps blogging, mystery Skype, or contacting an author/skilled subject matter expert while teaching the skill of business letters and email etiquette would be a good thing to take on.
• Do you want your students to create ways to share their learning other than a test? Perhaps give your students opportunities to do a slide share, podcast, or video and grade them based on a rubric. 
• Do you want your students to learn how to do research on a subject matter and curate information? Try these search education plans https://www.google.com/intl/en-us/insidesearch/searcheducation/ or teach them how to use https://www.instagrok.com. Show them databases that your school has access to that will help them find quality information.
• Do you want more opportunities to consume reading and videos for learning? Try accessing OER options like www.ck12.org, khan academy, youtube, https://www.gutenberg.org and SAS Curriculum Pathways. 

Technology definitely can add some depth to your lessons but there is a need to be intentional in it's use. Pedagogy before technology best meets needs.

InstaGrok Research Tool for Students

Last night I took part in twitter chat #TnTechChat that I cohosted with the amazing Julie King (@libtechJules). Our topic for the evening was "Student Research: Curating Information from the Internet." Quite honestly it was a very basic conversation with some important things being discussed but when it was over I was left with the overwhelming thought that most people are muddling through this but we feel overwhelmed with the responsibility of helping digital natives become digital learners. I don't blame anyone, it's an overwhelming task. I see this topic being a springboard for many more thought provoking chats...but I digress.

I want to share with you a tweet that stuck with me from last night:

INSTAGROK! (www.instagrok.com) As soon as Julie shared this I was like YES! At one point it was a standard go-to for me but for whatever reason it fell out of my toolbox. LibTechJulie is right though, it's an amazing tool...even for fun. Here are the top reasons it could be useful in your classroom:


It's visual. Students input keywords and boom...

Students can see a visual graphic organizer of ideas associated with their search and they then have the ability to make choices by clicking on the media options to decide the path of learning they want to make. Choice!

It can be personalized...

Students can do a search and follow through with information and then pin it for research papers where it can actually be cited for them in their Instagrok journal. It is interactive and academic. Student research can easily be shared with others!

It's easy. Students can use their google accounts to access it. The free version meets needs. It's nonlinear learning. It's cross platform and app based as well!

And definitely worth taking another look at and sharing with your students! Watch this video and dig in! Thanks for the reminder Julie King!

The 4 C's of Technology Integration (Part 1 of 2)

If you google "Four C's of Technology Integration" you will get links to a myriad of "C-words" including: Creativity/Creation, Consumption, Curation, Connection, Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking. All of which are important elements of learning and can be enhanced with the use of technology. 

For the sake of this blog, I am going to focus more on what devices themselves can do, so my four C's include:

• Creation- Allowing students to use technology for creation purposes allows students to tap their creativity juices for presentations of knowledge learned. There are an unending number of ways this can be done via apps and websites (see this spreadsheet for some of my favorites https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mbeadniHaSTZDDGh2U5KhqH1KqHiOUdAro0JOyfWDBU/edit?usp=sharing). Opportunities for creation are only limited by the students inability to think creatively and any limitation you as a teacher place on your students. I am a fan of not limiting the students and allowing them to choose how they want to "present." A well written rubric allows a teacher to grade any content in any type of presentation fairly. I prefer one rubric for any presentation styles for a project but Kathy Schrock has a great list of rubrics here http://www.schrockguide.net/assessment-and-rubrics.html that you might find helpful when creating rubrics for yourself.
  
  

• Consumption- Allowing students to use technology to ascertain large amounts of knowledge gets a bum rap at times. When iPads first came out there was a large vocal group of people that said "all you can do on an iPad is consume" and they were developed for consumption but since their inception, app makers have changed and developed how we view devices. I think the educational community has felt the need to stand up for the iPad so much that many have stopped seeing the value of the use of technology for consumption.
  
  I love the fact that I can read on a device because it is always with me. It is my choice of consumption much of the time, but not always. I also find great value daily of watching Youtube videos to learn more as well. There is great value to me as a teacher and an individual to always have access to information. I even CHOOSE to sometimes read on my iPhone and even create there! There is data out there that says students don't learn as well using a device to read but also some very recent reports that say that isn't always the case. As screen displays continue to improve, I think we will see more and more schools choosing to use e-books and assign work electronically to model to their students the green behavior of a "paper free" classroom. This is a great article that weighs the pros and cons of pixel vs paper (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/)
  
  
• Curation- According to Beth Kanter, "Content curation is the process of sorting through the vast amounts of content on the web and presenting it in a meaningful and organized way around a specific theme." (http://www.bethkanter.org/content-curation-101/). While Google does this based on factors we may or may not agree with within a simple search, true curation using a device is driven by a person through research. Teaching our students how to sift through all the topical information available to them on the world wide web is a valuable tool. We are at a place where it is harder to ascertain good sources from bad. We are also at a place where it is unclear whose job it actually is to teach a student how to do good web-based research. How does your school teach your students and teachers how to curate? Does your school force students to use educational databases for their research? Do you teach them how to curate using Google? Do you just accept anything as long as it is cited correctly? This is the area I feel I have a lot of room for growth in.
  
  
• Connection- One big advantage to technology is that it allows the teacher not to be the only authority in the classroom anymore. So many teachers are connecting with other teachers, writers, authority figures, and leaders for their students to learn more about the topics addressed in their lesson plans. Whether through FaceTime, hangouts, Skype, e-mail, or Twitter posts, teachers are contacting others to knock down the 4 walls of their classrooms and allow students to see beyond their current worlds. Last year I worked with a sixth grade Eastern Civilization social studies teacher while her students were studying the Philippines. We Skyped with a friend of mine that is a teacher and Philippine nationalist. The students loved it! Another valuable tool is allowing students to connect to each other through collaboration. We see shared notes, allowing students to proofread each other's writing, and group projects taking connectivity to a new level that can only be achieved through the use of technology because of the immediate feedback Google drive allows. 

So this question begs answering..Are you using all the 4 C's of technology integration in your classroom? Do you see the value of all four? Just like we don't want to limit our student's learning, why limit the tools we place in their hands? We have to be careful in finding the balance of the 4 C's that best meets the needs of our students. We have to be careful not to allow technology to become a babysitter; but when used appropriately as an enhancement to learning, technology offers things to our classroom that have never been available to the teaching profession in the past. I find that exciting because I think we are more likely to teach our students to be lifelong learners now more than ever before, partly because access to information and a constant audience is just so ding dang easy now.

My Part Two of this topic will be a future blog discussing the 4 C's  that can be enhance with the use of technology in the classroom:

• Critical thinking
• Creativity
• Communication
• Collaboration