For those who aren't aware, Regina Catholic had 3 days off last week; combined with the weekend, that was 5 days off from work. I've had quite a few people ask me how my holiday was. Well... it wasn't exactly the holiday that one traditionally thinks of when they have 5 days off from work, but nevertheless, the time away from work allowed me to focus heavily on my 2 grad classes, and for that I am thankful.
During our "holiday" Jenn and I put in full days (and evenings) into our major project. We definitely didn't get as far as we would have liked, but we did make a tremendous amount of progress. When we first set out to do this project, we had the big picture in our heads, but with time a ticking before this semester comes to a close, we realize we may have bitten off a little more than we can chew! It's a very ambitious project and a huge amount of work. With the time constraints, we may not be able to get everything done that we initially planned (i.e. sample lessons, etc)--and that's okay... the project will continue after this the semester comes to an end. What we will have is: a comprehensive overview of our 7 C's vision, a description of each C, as well as a detailed scope and sequence for each C that explores essential questions, student knowledge, and a breakdown of skill-sets for K-3, 4-8, and 9-12. This is most definitely a project that we will continue to develop even after the class comes to an end. We will be sharing our project on Drupal (our revised division website, which will be live soon) and continuously adding to it. The website will be open, so you will be able to access if you are interested in following this project. We are also happy that as our project has been progressing, we've been able to integrate our project into the professional development sessions we have been offering teachers. Although the project is far from complete, we are getting teachers speaking the 7 C's language (and cultivating buy-in)--we believe this is key in successful implementation.
Below is still a rough draft of the essential questions that we are developing in order to guide us in building our scope and sequence for each C.
Curate:
Collaborate (still developing):
Communicate:
Connect:
Critical Thinking:
Create:
Citizenship:
Curate:
- Do students understand that curation an important skill to develop in order to manage and make sense of the deluge of information all around them?
- Can students skim, scan, and scour digital content in order to curate appropriately?
- What processes and tools should students use for curation and what digital literacies are required?
- How do students collect and organize information it so that it can be retrieved when needed?
- Do students collect digital content from a variety of sources?
- Are students aware of algorithms and ways to refine searches to ensure they can reach diverse perspectives?
- Can students synthesize their curation effectively, ensuring that multiple perspectives are gathered and represented, in addition to their own.
- Do students see the benefits of sharing information as part of a collective? Are students engaged in sharing information in participatory environments as a component of metaliteracy?
Collaborate (still developing):
- Are students able to work together to reach a goal, drawing from the talents and expertise within the group?
- Do students demonstrate proficiency in working collaboratively both offline & online? Can they transfer their interpersonal skills from face-to-face to virtual environments?
- Do students work together to construct knowledge or solve problems better than what could be accomplished individually?
Communicate:
- How can students share thoughts, questions, ideas and solutions effectively and appropriately?
- Can students transfer their communication skills from face-to-face to digital mediums?
- Can students communicate using a variety of approaches, including oral, written, and visual, for a variety of purposes?
- Are students able to consider the audience when communicating a message?
- Can students identify the most suitable medium to communicate with others?
- Are students mindful of their own messages and how to get others to understand their intended meaning?
Connect:
- Do students make meaningful connections between their classroom learning, their personal lives, and the world around them?
- Do students see relationships and overlaps between multiple streams of information?
- Can students identify and harmonize and draw connections to seemingly unrelated and/or conflicting concepts and information?
- Do students understand the power and benefits of connections in the globally-connected 21st century?
- Can students create meaningful networks using various digital tools and social platforms? These networks may include learning networks, social networks, activism networks, etc.
- Are students given the opportunity to connect beyond the classroom walls with other peers or experts who help to support this learning process? Are these learning interactions as valued as traditional views of how learning takes place?
- Are schools bridging the disconnect between traditional learning models and the realities of the connected 21st century learner?
- What metacognitive processes would students utilize when they assess their own work? Are students tracking progress through e-portfolios and connecting with other members in their learning network?
- Are students given opportunities to engage in dialogue about their learning with teachers, peers or other members of their learning network/networked community? Are students able to engage in diverse learning communities (which include face to face and digital, as well as inter-generational)?
Critical Thinking:
- Do students use inquiry when approaching learning opportunities?
- Do students have the capacity to ask robust questions and to frame them in such a way that they go beyond a basic Google search for the answer?
- Are students critical consumers of multimedia? Do students exercise media literacy skills that include critical analysis of a variety of information from a variety of sources ?
- Do students give careful consideration to both the message and the medium when considering the validity and value of information?
- Do students understand how information can be shaped, biased, or misrepresented?
- Can students identify fact, bias, opinion, and slant? Do they understand their own biases and worldview?
- Can students form their own opinions? Are they independent critical thinkers?
- Can students apply critical thinking skills to choose the correct digital tool(s) for what they want to accomplish?
Create:
- Can students apply existing knowledge and new-found knowledge to create something new?
- Can students create using a variety of digital tools?
- Can students combine the creative process with technical function?
- Can students digitally demonstrate their learning in a creative and/or innovative way?
- Do students value the process as much as the final product?
- Are students able to use digital tools to combine and remix existing ideas construct new ideas?
- Are students motivated to contribute to the world wide web in a positive way? Are their contributions to the internet driven by positive digital citizenship?
- Do students communicate their progress and learning processes about their creations?
- Do students invite feedback on their creations and view this as essential for improving the quality of their creations?
Citizenship:
- We are leaving this one alone right now, as we feel the Ministry's Digital Citizenship Continuum is thorough and, therefore, don't want to re-create the wheel.