Monday, April 30, 2007

Student IML Learning Capacities

In developing the IML student learning capacities, we stayed very focused on learning.  When sharing this with another teacher, they commented that, “I knew you would do something with technology.”  I quickly corrected them because it has so little to do with technology.  
 
IML is all about students learning.  The term capacity was carefully chosen so that we don’t get stuck with a set of skills to learn.  As our digital society changes, so will the skills required.  At present, I don’t see the need for new learning capacities though.
 
I really like an article, “Literacy by Design” written by Jeff Wilhelm where he quotes J. David Bolter who argued in 1991 that, “
if our students are not reading and composing with various electronic technologies, then they are illiterate. They are not just unprepared for the future, they are illiterate right now, in our current time and context.” http://www.teachnet-lab.org/fklane/wilhelm.htm
 
Not only is this a powerful statement for today, I see it as more powerful that it was recognized 16 years ago.  We really haven’t made the change to embrace a new understanding of literacy.  I hope that working with our district, our teachers, our administrators, our parents, our community and our students, we work towards building everyone’s Information and Media Literacy as learning capacities.
 
The attached document summarizes the 6 capacities.  I will look into each in more detail in following entries.
 
3 Key Concepts.pdf

Friday, April 27, 2007

What is Literacy?

The illiterate of the twenty-first century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn - Alvin Toffler


I like to use wikipedia for definitions because it is based on current knowledge and not just the academics.
 
According to
Wikipedia
The traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write, or the ability to use language to read, write, listen, and speak. In modern contexts, the word refers to reading and writing at a level adequate for communication, or at a level that lets one understand and communicate ideas in a literate society, so as to take part in that society.
 
The last phrase is crucial - to take part in that society.  We have new norms of society.  Many schools are moving to reduced paper.  Regular communication is done electronically and face2face.  The paper reminders, agendas, and meeting minutes are disappearing.  (Although some have found comfort in being able to print out emails and file them in the same old ways.)
 
We want our students to take part in their society.  I was born just as the internet was invented.  It took almost 20 years for the internet to become a powerful learning tool available to the public.  Now the power of the internet is in every school in British Columbia.  Families used to buy encyclopedia sets for their children.  (My parents included.)  I haven’t heard of an encyclopedia salesperson in years.  While I try and hold my head above water, I am not a Digital Native, as Mark Prensky refers to those born after 1988.  The society of Digital Natives have different expectations for participation.  We need to empower ALL students to take part in their society, not their parents.  (I recognize the value of communication between generations; however, we can’t just teach the old ways.)

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Web 2.0 The Read / Write Web



I have been a proponent of Web2.0 for a while now.  It has really taken off.  The basic concept is that the web is now Read and Write.  Just about anyone anywhere can create content for the web.  This does pose challenges for ensuring validity, but it is also a huge resource for learning and sharing your learning.

A side that I recently found that shares may great resources from presentations or videos on Web2.0 is located at

title="http://web2videos.blogspot.com">http://web2videos.blogspot.com

I am also using YouTube to archive videos that I find about technology this is located at http://youtube.com/kevinamboe

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

21st Century Students


Who are our students today?  It is ironic, but our students are our community, parents, teachers and students.  Many students are learning the skills to be literate in a media rich world; Many are still illiterate.
 
It really hit home for me with the Virginia Tech shooting.  A sound byte that resonates with me is a fellow student telling his friends, “Change your facebook page to say ‘I am OKAY’.”
 
Wow, the internet was designed to be able to withstand nuclear war.  A catastrophe happens in one city and phone lines(cell and land) are plugged.  Students today think beyond traditional communication and communicate in ways I wouldn’t have thought possible 20 years ago.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Why Information and Media Literacy?


I have put together a short video clip based on President George Bush’s speech after the events of September 11, 2001. The intention of the clip is a discussion starter. If we go back 60 years ago, much of the current information was delivered by radio. Newspapers were also delivering content but not as current. Television brought the opportunity for people to see events as well as see the person giving the news. Step forward to the present Web2.0.

Now we are no longer just consumers of the information that is delivered to us, we are also the producers of information and mashers of others information.

My video is a mash of different forms of media. The value is not so much in my clip, rather in my contribution. I have become a producer.

The spark for this was listening to Marco A. Torres when he came to speak in Surrey November 2006. He shared a similar story with words of a speech, the voice, then the video. He shared Martin Luther King and “I have a dream...”

With the resources available to me and students, I was able to take that idea and produce something more. I was inspired to go further and create something along the same lines that is even more relevant to our students - such as Canadian Troops in Afghanistan. (That is a work in process)

Monday, April 23, 2007

IML - What is it?

I have been working as part of my passion, my masters and my position in the Surrey School District on developing capacities for Information and Media Literacy.  During the last 10 months, I have known what IML is.  I was challenged twice this week to define it.
 
I couldn’t - well at least not in a nice clean definition.
 
I could tell you what it looked like.  I could tell you how to measure it.  I couldn’t give you a clear concise definition.
 
That changed on Friday working with my Colleagues - Dorota Peacock and Susan Chow.  We were editing the documents for publication and needed to tighten up the language - including formalizing a definition.  It was a wonderful discussion.  
 
Here is the definition that we settled on :
IML is a combination of information literacy and media literacy.  Its purpose is to engage in a digital society; one needs to be able to use, understand, inquire, create, communicate and think critically.  It is important to have capacity to effectively access, organize, analyze, evaluate, and create messages in a variety of forms. The transformative nature of IML includes creative works and creating new knowledge; to publish and collaborate responsibly requires ethical, cultural and social understanding.

 

I think the definition is very powerful.  The process of creating it and having to agree on wording was a powerful experience as well.  I understand it much more having to explain and make sure it put into words the vision I had inside me.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Starting a New Blog - April 2007

Why am I blogging? Well, I have been podcasting for the last 5 months. I quite enjoy it, but sometimes there are things that I just want to tell people. With a weekly feature, I don’t have the time to share everything and it can be a week outdated already.

Why blog about Information and Media Literacy?

I have always believed in students expressing themselves in their own ways. Information and Media Literacy is a concept where one is literate in the ways to receive, create and send messages appropriately in todays society.

I chose the dandelion ball to represent IML. There are many ways to communicate; once released to use them, you can travel to far off places - like the dandelion seeds on the wind.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Update - April 2007

It has been a while. I have been working on developing Information and Media LIteracy student learning capacities for our district for the past 10 months. Things are moving so fast with technology, I can't keep up. I have started to move out some of my old bookmarks into Del.icio.us. I have been using Del.icio.us for all new book marks but I maintained a district site with several hundred links.... I have been creating a regular podcast for the past 20 weeks. I missed this Friday. Just too much. I certainly feel for teachers that feel overwhelmed. I am trying to keep abreast and dabble in enough to be able to answer questions. I like using Del.icio.us since I don't have to remember where the math link on manipulatives is located and whether I updated the site.....