# data[].attributes.body
https://newsroom.unl.edu/announce/csmce/5344/29195

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What are learning skills?
From Thoughtful Learning

The 21st century learning skills are often called the 4 C's: critical thinking, creative thinking, communicating, and collaborating. These skills help students learn, and so they are vital to success in school and beyond.

See videos of each main area below at the website - https://k12.thoughtfullearning.com/FAQ/what-are-learning-skills

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is focused, careful analysis of something to better understand it. When people speak of "left brain" activity, they are usually referring to critical thinking. Here are some of the main critical-thinking abilities:
* Analyzing is breaking something down into its parts, examining each part, and noting how the parts fit together.
* Arguing is using a series of statements connected logically together, backed by evidence, to reach a conclusion.
* Classifying is identifying the types or groups of something, showing how each category is distinct from the others.
* Comparing and contrasting is pointing out the similarities and differences between two or more subjects.
* Defining is explaining the meaning of a term using denotation, connotation, example, etymology, synonyms, and antonyms.
* Describing is explaining the traits of something, such as size, shape, weight, color, use, origin, value, condition, location, and so on.
* Evaluating is deciding on the worth of something by comparing it against an accepted standard of value.
* Explaining is telling what something is or how it works so that others can understand it.
* Problem solving is analyzing the causes and effects of a problem and finding a way to stop the causes or the effects.
* Tracking cause and effect is determining why something is happening and what results from it.

Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is expansive, open-ended invention and discovery of possibilities. When people speak of "right brain" activity, they most often mean creative thinking. Here are some of the more common creative thinking abilities:
* Brainstorming ideas involves asking a question and rapidly listing all answers, even those that are far-fetched, impractical, or impossible.
* Creating something requires forming it by combining materials, perhaps according to a plan or perhaps based on the impulse of the moment.
* Designing something means finding the conjunction between form and function and shaping materials for a specific purpose.
* Entertaining others involves telling stories, making jokes, singing songs, playing games, acting out parts, and making conversation.
* Imagining ideas involves reaching into the unknown and impossible, perhaps idly or with great focus, as Einstein did with his thought experiments.
* Improvising a solution involves using something in a novel way to solve a problem.
* Innovating is creating something that hasn't existed before, whether an object, a procedure, or an idea.
* Overturning something means flipping it to get a new perspective, perhaps by redefining givens, reversing cause and effect, or looking at something in a brand new way.
* Problem solving requires using many of the creative abilities listed here to figure out possible solutions and putting one or more of them into action.
* Questioning actively reaches into what is unknown to make it known, seeking information or a new way to do something.

Communicating

* Analyzing the situation means thinking about the subject, purpose, sender, receiver, medium, and context of a message.
* Choosing a medium involves deciding the most appropriate way to deliver a message, ranging from a face-to-face chat to a 400-page report.
* Evaluating messages means deciding whether they are correct, complete, reliable, authoritative, and up-to-date.
* Following conventions means communicating using the expected norms for the medium chosen.
* Listening actively requires carefully paying attention, taking notes, asking questions, and otherwise engaging in the ideas being communicated.
* Reading is decoding written words and images in order to understand what their originator is trying to communicate.
* Speaking involves using spoken words, tone of voice, body language, gestures, facial expressions, and visual aids in order to convey ideas.
* Turn taking means effectively switching from receiving ideas to providing ideas, back and forth between those in the communication situation.
* Using technology requires understanding the abilities and limitations of any technological communication, from phone calls to e-mails to instant messages.
* Writing involves encoding messages into words, sentences, and paragraphs for the purpose of communicating to a person who is removed by distance, time, or both.

Collaborating

* Allocating resources and responsibilities ensures that all members of a team can work optimally.
* Brainstorming ideas in a group involves rapidly suggesting and writing down ideas without pausing to critique them.
* Decision-making requires sorting through the many options provided to the group and arriving at a single option to move forward.
* Delegating means assigning duties to members of the group and expecting them to fulfill their parts of the task.
* Evaluating the products, processes, and members of the group provides a clear sense of what is working well and what improvements could be made.
* Goal setting requires the group to analyze the situation, decide what outcome is desired, and clearly state an achievable objective.
* Leading a group means creating an environment in which all members can contribute according to their abilities.
* Managing time involves matching up a list of tasks to a schedule and tracking the progress toward goals.
* Resolving conflicts occurs from using one of the following strategies: asserting, cooperating, compromising, competing, or deferring.
* Team building means cooperatively working over time to achieve a common goal.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Thoughful Learning: What are the 4 C's of learning skills?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What are learning skills? From Thoughtful Learning The 21st century learning skills are often called the 4 C's: critical thinking, creative thinking, communicating, and collaborating. These skills help students learn, and so they are vital to success in school and beyond.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
21st Century Education: The integration of technology (via the SAMR model) gives students opportunities to further develop their 21st Century Skills.

# data[].attributes.headline
Benefits of the SAMR Model: 21st Century Skill Development

# data[].attributes.subject
Benefits of the SAMR Model: 21st Century Skill Development

# data[].attributes.body
The Australian Curriculum categorises 21st Century Skills into 7 General Capabilities:

Critical and Creative Thinking

Digital Literacy

Ethical Understanding

Intercultural Understanding

Literacy

Numeracy

Personal and Social capability.

While ACER categorises them differently (2020):
Critical thinking

Strand 1: Knowledge construction

Stand 2: Evaluating reasoning

Strand 3: Decision making

Creative thinking

Strand 1: Generation of ideas

Strand 2: Experimentation

Strand 3: Quality of ideas

Collaboration

Strand 1: Building shared understanding

Strand 2: Collectively contributing

Strand 3: Regulating

In spite of this, the SAMR Model allows teachers to integrate technologies and provide students with multiple opportunities to refine their 21st Century Skills.

References

ACER. (2020). Teaching and assessing 21st century skills. https://www.acer.org/au/discover/article/teaching-and-assessing-21st-century-skills

AITSL. (2017). 21st century education: Video on AITSL and 21st century education. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/tools-resources/resource/21st-century-education

# data[].attributes.body
Basic Literacy and Documenting Learning

Media Literacy / Visual Literacy and Documenting Learning

Digital Citizenship and Documenting Learning

Global Literacy and Documenting Learning

Information Literacy and Documenting Learning

Network Literacy and Documenting Learning

References
Tolisano, S. (2016, December 25). Network Literacy and Documenting Learning. Langwitches Blog.
https://langwitches.org/blog/2016/12/25/network-literacy-and-documenting-learning/

# data[].attributes.body
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License

Reference
Anderson, L. & Krathwohl, D. (2000). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Complete Edition, Longman. http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2014/12/11/SAMRandTPCK_HandsOnApproachClassroomPractice.pdf

# data[].attributes.body
References
Tolisano, S. (2010, July 10). 21st Century Skills-Literacies-Fluencies. Langwitches Blog. https://langwitches.org/blog/2010/07/10/21st-century-skills-literacies-fluencies/

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
How can the SAMR Model can contribute towards 21st Century Learning?

# data[].attributes.body
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License

LINK to slides on Dr Ruben Puentedura's blog
http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2014/12/11/SAMRandTPCK_HandsOnApproachClassroomPractice.pdf

# data[].attributes.body
References

AISTL. (2011). Australian professional standards for graduate teachers. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/national-policy-framework/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers.pdf

QCAA. (2022). 21st century skills. https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/senior-subjects/general-subjects/21st-century-skills

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Authentic learning is real life learning. It is a style of learning that encourages students to create a tangible, useful, quality product/outcome to be shared with their world. Once an educator provides a motivational challenge, or student selects their initiative, it is imperative to nurture and support the necessary criteria, planning, timelines, resources and support to accommodate student success. The teacher becomes a guide on the side or an event manager, a facilitator that co-creates with their students. Processes become the predominant forces while skills, knowledge and behaviours are activated in real-world, relevant contexts.

Authentic learning is actualized learning. It is only when student initiatives are directed towards a genuine audience, beyond the classroom, that learning becomes truly activated. When learning initiatives are designed for initiatives that permeate the classroom walls, then lasting, transferrable learning begins to take hold. It can be achieved by going out to the community, by inviting a community audience into the school setting, or directing it towards an audience in the global, digital or electronic domain.

When relevant and meaningful learning initiatives are skilfully designed and implemented for a genuine audience, in a realistic context, then innate neurological receptors to learn are heightened. The closer learning is to real-life scenarios, the more optimal the learning experience will be.

Authentic learning engages all the senses allowing students to create a meaningful, useful, shared outcome. They are real life tasks, or simulated tasks, that provide the learner with opportunities to connect directly with a relevant world.

Instead of vicariously discussing topics and regurgitating information in a traditional industrial age modality, authentic learning provides a learner with support to achieve a tangible, useful, quality product worth sharing with an audience in their world. Instead of prioritizing the curriculum expectations and its contents over experience rich processes, authentic learning chooses fertile, student driven, community connected audiences to create experience rich products for and then strategically align relevant curricula connections to them. with our environment that creates experience

As Albert Einstein stated, "The only source of knowledge is the experience." Yes we are complex, intricately wired beings with a vast network of neuro-receptors that serve us on our unique journeys through life. Regardless of our analytical talents, physical prowess, perceptual abilities or health status, we all come with plethora of innate skills and deficits. It's only when we're exposed to opportunities to explore, engage, create, reflect, interact socially, emotionally and cognitively

exposure to Authentic learning emphasizes 'experience nurturing' that provides longer lasting, transferable skills to an individual. It is more relevant, motivational and personal.

Our greatest short coming in education these past years has been to ignore the brain research that is richly available to us that affirms that implementing multi-sensory activities, pursuing meaningful tasks, exploring a variety of skills with real world applications is optimal learning and that it needs to be practiced regularly.

A student sitting at a desk, taking notes and regurgitating curriculum content uses a minute amount of their potential. In general, students learn to sit quietly, respond in turn, follow instructions and complete tests for a control teacher. Without relevance, personal connection, multi-sensory engagement and purpose, content driven curricula begins to evaporate once the test has been taken. You remember studying for exams, cramming, finding memory cues and rote to consolidate information? Do you also remember how fast you started to forget those brain bytes once you left the exam room? If it's not relevant to you, it not lasting, transferrable learning. If learning is not based in the rich processes that only experiences can provide, it's static learning.

This classic, industrial age approach has been used since the mid 1870's to produce a work force to facilitate mass production lines that were to become prevalent in the next hundred years. That era ended in the 1980's if not before. If all we do is sit at a square table, with a square piece of paper, in a square room with departmentalized lessons and timetables, then what are our education systems really producing? Brain-based research shows that by using all senses it maximizes the learning experience. The key being - the experience!

Interacting, manipulating, exploring, collaborating, discussing openly and sharing for meaningful reasons while having ample time to nurture a greater depth of reasoning and creativity is optimal learning. It's learning that sticks. It's learning with roots!

In an authentic learning model the emphasis is to prioritize the processes over the content. It's about allowing students to pursue individual learning opportunities that are unique to their interests, through relevant, real life journeys. The emphasis isn't just about regurgitating content for a unit test, it's about developing a set of culminating skills sets, within a realistic timeline, using self-motivated, natural inquiry methods to create a useful product to be shared with a specific, meaningful audience. It's about engaging students into full fledged, multi-sensory contexts that nurture their learning experiences in significant, lasting ways.

More importantly, the learning journey that ensues is life altering as students are aligned to meaningful processes that nurture non-perishable skills rather than the short term memory exercises that a content driven curriculum demands. Don't get me wrong, content is important but when using an authentic learning approach content is recognized as it is properly intended to be - a portfolio of records, research, plans, lists, notes, reading, contacts, drafts and support information that will become the artifacts of the authentic journey.

With the advent of the internet, content is readily available to everyone. We can reference, cross reference, research any topic at rapid speeds and do it at any time when it's relevant for us. We can access it through mobiles, tablets or computers as we access information as it is needed and when it is needed. Is it still relevant for a teacher to predominately dispense content to students, then evaluate the regurgitation of that content given as the main assessment of a person's learning ability?

Authentic learning allows for students to demonstrate their skills through a series of unfolding learning processes with a definitive, quality product that they can actually demonstrate. At no time in history has information (content) been so readily available to the masses, but it's the synergy and processes of engagement that defines our human experience. That's where the real value in education lies. Students need purpose. They need to feel useful and be a valued part of a community. They need to feel connected and real-world contexts allow for these elements to be activated and groomed. By nurturing 'purpose' we are providing the channels for students to recognize their unique talents and see their inherent value in society. Thus, individual and community self-esteem becomes a priceless byproduct of a successful authentic learning initiative.

I believe that education systems must reevaluate the weighting of its' curricula as it must reflect a working balance between learning processes and properly aligned content? Remember, processes take time to learn but once they're consolidated they're impact lasts for a long time. Processes require skill sets that are developmentally prioritized and require skilled instructors to transfer these skills. If you want students to engage in deeper thinking opportunities, then time is one of the most valued commodities. Are education systems willing to forgo the number of content expectations in their curricula in favour of embracing processes that require more time commitment? Good teachers are quick to point out that their curricula covers so many topics and expectations that there isn't enough time to cover everything appropriately. The more topics, the more content and the more time it takes to cover everything in the curriculum, and mathematically it just doesn't work. The rules dictate how the game is played, so to cover every expectation educational systems rely on the "here's the information" and "here's the test" mode of education. It's an efficient way to deliver content quickly so that all expectations are lawfully covered. It's an over used exercise in short term memory skills and cognitive cueing tricks, but its not a fulfilling, meaningful way to learn. Unless students are immersed in relevant, multi-sensory activities with specific, audience directed outcomes and culminating skills sets, then what students are learning is not sticking.

With the recognition of STEM, STEAM, Maker education platforms in the past decade, it demonstrates a deeper appreciation and commitment to relevant processes. This is very promising!

The quality of research, subject knowledge, skill development, expert consultation, dedication and resourcefulness that goes into making a product is directly related to the quality outcome of that product.

Is It Authentic Learning or Not?

Remember, in true authentic learning an outcome designed to interact successfully with a community is the goal. When this happens a whole new layer of emotional, academic and skill set developments take place. There's a big difference between preparing a skit for some classmates verses a dramatic production for the public. There's a much larger personal investment required when a student becomes an ancient Egyptian tradesperson producing tools and wares, while working at a market stall to an interacting audience than holding up a Bristol board display and explaining ancient Egyptian information on it. Best of all, the student retains information from this type of multi-sensory, authentic learning experience longer because it's real, it's connected.

Authentic learning is not project-based learning nor is it constructivism. These models of education were designed within the classroom context. Although at times they stepped successfully into the world of authentic, and are extremely useful tools in moving closer to an authentic learning approach they are not authentic learning models. Authentic learning is intended to successfully interact with a community; by going out to interact with a community or the community coming into the student community to interact. That's why it's authentic! It's a quality outcome or product of significance that is intended for community consumption or betterment.

Kudos to those teachers who provide project-based, simulation, game-based learning opportunities, Maker, STEM and STEAM. These are significant, engaging initiatives that provide the best kind of classroom learning and education systems need more of you. They are fantastic opportunities in providing working instruction and to model inquiry method, team work and sound skill development. What I'm encouraging is to take the next step. Consider a project to be developed for real world applications beyond the school walls, for a viable audience. Not every time, but perhaps once in a school year attempt an authentic event. For those who have stepped into the realm of authentic you'll understand how this impacts everything. It will impact the initial discussions, the consultation, the refined skill sets, networking and the professional development a student and teacher requires.

Think about it. Every important, relevant thing a person requires to achieve a goal in life has a quality outcome or product attached to it with an intended audience. Pitching a business proposal requires an in depth presentation that reflects relevance, meaning and purpose. If it's backed by tangible proof, even better. A prototype of a new invention requires a quality, tested, working device or apparatus to gain support in the marketing world. An environmental assessment requires extensive research and impact studies of connected, like-situations from around the ecological world.

A grade five teacher once shared a wonderful collection of student written and recorded persuasive "Saving Energy" stories with me. They even designed CD covers in art lessons for their project. The work, learning and planning by teacher and student was tremendous. Upon being asked however, "What did you do with all that great work" she replied she'd listened to the CD in class and put the CD covers up on the bulletin board. This is a great example of integrated learning but it's not authentic learning.

By planning beyond the classroom, a whole new level of understanding and relevant learning takes place. What if the CDs were intended for sale at the nearest mall? Now, an in depth degree of consultation needs to be pursued. Mall managers, local radio stations, graphic designers, bar codes for selling, copyrights local recording studios and marketing experts will need to be considered. That's the major leap an educator needs to take to enter the realm of authentic learning. What if the recordings were uploaded onto a website and promoted to leaders of energy conservation intended to be used to educate the surrounding community on "Energy Saving"? What about an "Energy Saving in Our Homes" campaign within your community? These are only suggestions but with a little brainstorming and with the right people, it wouldn't be long until a list of exciting possibilities could be created. Why are they exciting possibilities? Because they're real, relevant and worthy!

One of the reasons I started to use the term "authentic learning" was that I recognized that the term "outcomes-based" education, William Spady's model which shared a number of characteristics, was being recognized mainly for it's outcome statements. His strategy of reforming an education system, built on students performing a hierarchy of skills was diluted down to the content-based, outcome statements. Again, it became more about the content than pursuing the meaningful journey of authentic education. It isn't hard to understand why this happened because that's how it would be perceived by policy makers who's successes were affirmed in a content driven system.

Authentic learning is not another edu-trend or buzz word. It is real life - real world education and when appropriately implemented it can provide optimal learning opportunities to all students. I have noticed that some educators are misrepresenting the term "authentic" to qualify their student's inferred learning. If learning is engaged solely in classroom settings, referencing real world examples only, it's vicarious learning, - it's not authentic learning. Authentic learning is relevant learning, activated in a real world context to a real world audience.

​If you've ever initiated a business or an organization, you'll have a far better understanding of the enormous work and planning an authentic learning event requires. As in real life - these initiatives take an enormous amount of time, dedication, consulting, flexibility, networking, research and communication to launch. Yes, to launch! Once the launch has been initiated, then the real work starts. As guide on the side, or project manager you're now having to coordinate, educate, coach, consult and communicate with your students and parents in shaping their successful roles while pursuing the larger goal of your signature event. As well, you're going to require some additional professional development directly connected to the skills required in your authentic initiative.

Creating a Signature Event

A signature event is when tangible product is shared with a genuine, relevant audience. For example; if your high school senior class planned to design, construct and test their solar cars, organizing a Solar Car Derby with a spectator audience at a nearby racetrack would be a worthwhile signature event.

To fully immerse the students in an authentic learning experience they would be expected to prepare for the event with community experts, consultants, parents, teacher colleagues and community leaders. The more the students participate in the organization of the event, the more ownership and pride the students will have towards the event.

By providing students with the opportunity to have input at all levels allows for the distribution of learning at all levels. If there are rules involved, then student representatives need to be part of the derby rules development, refinement and approval. Students will possess a better grasp of all aspects of the authentic event when they are personally connected to the complete journey.

While the signature event is being planned, the students are honing their knowledge and skills to create their own quality product to share. It all depends on the type of product being created that will dictate how much class time can be used to design and create their products.

This style of learning is labour intensive and time consuming but it is the most worthwhile education you can provide students. Once you've implemented an authentic event, or simulation, the impact on student development is remarkable. The great thing about authentic learning is, it's a context that allows for student's uniqueness to be highlighted. Whether it's a specific skill, academic or a social/behaviour issue, an authentic setting, appropriately implemented, provides a very rich personal growth setting.

This new, authentic learning approach, however, requires another breed of educator. An academic as well as a life skilled, co-creator. A real, "life" long learner with skill sets and experiences that can facilitate a creative, diverse, well structured, team-based, open-ended, criteria based and globally directed education program. Ask yourself if you're on the way down the enlightened authentic learning road? Are you working towards sharing a tangible product beyond the class or bringing the world into your schools either electronically or for real? The authentic experiences you provide your students is also the beginning of an unforgettable learning journey in your life.

The Tale of Two Lyres

Pictures of Quality Products (below)

I had just completed an authentic event, a Medieval Market Living Museum one April evening. It was the culmination of one and half months of preparation as the students demonstrated their personas (roles) as medieval trades people in medieval Coventry, UK. The students worked diligently away at their trades during this open house, all academic levels to their potential. Their goal was to create an authentic medieval trade persona, an authentic costume that reflected their trade role, an authentic working trade tool or product and a market stall to share their wares. The room was decorated with beautiful tapestries, murals, personalized heraldry banners and a large book display of the student's collective work/activity sheets carefully spiral bound.

In authentic learning paper collections are referred to as portfolios. These portfolios were carefully done and included an extensive variety of curriculum content and authentic learning preparation sheets. Spelling, creative writing, math, art, drama, technology, problem solving and reading comprehension work sheets were all included. Nearly five hundred visitors came through our themed room and only about ten people even looked through the spiraled bound unit booklets. They were clearly displayed, beautifully presented and featured eye pleasing, colorful covers.

Visitors were far more interested in interacting with the trades people, hearing their stories, watching them work, than reading the notes that helped them attain their goal. Really, it is this kind of instance that affirms the reality that content and paper curriculum isn't as important as we believe them to be. It's important, and it certainly has its place, but the applied knowledge is far more important. The doing consolidates all the learning that went into the event.

​Somewhere along the continuum of learning development the jot notes became more important than the tangible, meaningful applications of the education purpose itself. In the end, it's the applied demonstration that counts. "It's all in the doing".

Student Behaviours When Immersed in Authentic Learning

Is it realistic to think that authentic learning of this nature can be done, ongoing, throughout the school year? Of course it can and there are school's that engage in authentic approaches already. Maybe one day authentic learning may be the motis operandum of the majority of schools, but realistically not yet. With the current school classroom structures, resources, timetabling, standardized test demands, physical classroom limitations, administration directives and the plethora of curriculum expectations as they are, it's difficult to do.

If, however, an educator can attempt one or two authentic learning events in a school year then that's a fantastic start. At year's end you and your students won't regret it and it won't be long until you're looking forward to starting your next. There are different degrees of authentic learning events from simulations shared with your community to complete, real world integrations. Start small, then develop your authentic learning undertakings over the years to come. Let other educators, parents and community members observe your authentic learning events. Remember, a well implemented authentic unit/event is the best kind of promotion for this rich style of learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Authentic learning is real life learning. It is a style of learning that encourages students to create a tangible, useful, quality product/outcome to be shared with their world. Once an educator...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Quite often we'll ask children to "Put your thinking cap on". Empowering learners with the skills to think creatively and critically is a gift which we can facilitate as teachers. The Developing Thinking and Reading Between the Lines PowerPoints in the Literacy Toolkit provide professional learning resources for staff to engage with materials that promote thinking.

Many of our posts have referred to the work of Bloom; however, when I was at an Active Literacy CPD session in Falkirk recently, the Six Hat materials were mentioned during a round table discussion.

Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats is a tool which can be used by practitioners to promote thinking. Each hat colour represents a different aspect of thinking.

Some of the resources, tailored to middle/upper Primary and Secondary, suggest physically wearing coloured representations of the hats when beginning to engage with the materials. This way, learners are physically moving between the hats; therefore they are moving between the different modes of thinking.

There are banks of free resources that are available to support the teaching of thinking skills using the De Bono's Six Hats materials. The Six Hats materials can be used in conjunction with other Higher Order Thinking materials. Check out the resources below:

CLICK HERE - Using Six Hats as a reflection tool
CLICK HERE - Using the Six Hats to Respond to Literature
CLICK HERE - Six Hats Display
CLICK HERE - Thinking Display
CLICK HERE - FREE De Bono Thinking Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Quite often we'll ask children to "Put your thinking cap on". Empowering learners with the skills to think creatively and critically is a gift which we can facilitate as teachers. The Developing Thinking and Reading Between the Lines PowerPoints in the Literacy Toolkit provide professional learning resources for staff to engage with materials that promote thinking.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
﻿ ﻿ Children must be taught how to think, not what to think." - Margaret Mead ﻿ ﻿

# data[].attributes.body
Prodromou, T. (2020). Augmented reality in educational settings (T. Prodromou, Ed.). Brill .

Chapter 8: Uses of Augmented Reality in Biology Education.
Fuchsova, M., Adamkova, M., & Pirhacova Lapsanski, M.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMW3_wUc-4s&t=79s

# data[].attributes.body
https://truthforteachers.com/truth-for-teachers-podcast/10-tips-avoiding-technology-overwhelm/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
There's one complaint about technology that I hear from almost every single person I talk to: it's just plain overwhelming. There's too much to learn. There are too many options. It's always changing and I'm always behind.

Between ed tech for your classroom and the technology you use in your personal life, there's always going to be a massive amount of tools you wish you could explore and master. Here's what to do when it all starts to feel overwhelming.

Want to listen to this post instead of read?

1. Know that everyone feels like they're constantly behind and out of the loop

I've worked as an instructional technology coach for several years in NYC, and when I talked with other local coaches, we often hadn't heard of half the programs and apps that one another were using even though we were doing the same job in the same school system! Seriously-it's not just you that can't keep track of all the new tools that are out there. With as many as 60,000 new apps launched in the iTunes app store every month and hundreds of thousands of educational websites in existence, there is simply no way one person can learn all of them.

And that means you don't have to feel pressure to try. Stop telling yourself you need to learn to be proficient in all technology and know the latest about every type of tool out there. It's not going to happen, and it doesn't need to.

2. Recognize that your frustrated feelings will only change if YOU do

The sheer amount of technology that's available is only going to increase with time, so if you're waiting for that feeling of being overwhelmed to go away, you're just going to get more frustrated. Now is the time to jump in there. You might not ever be a technology expert, but you can be a determined, lifelong learner who is willing to put yourself out there and keep trying.

3. Innovate like a turtle

That's a phrase coined by educator Vicki Davis (Cool Cat Teacher), who reminds us that transforming the way we teach is not about speed and making huge, rapid changes, but about slow, steady progress over time. Start with whatever you've got and whatever you're capable of learning how to do right now. Remind yourself that small changes add up to big results!

4. Focus on versatile tools that you can use again and again

Rather than try to learn about every tool that's out there, just pick one or two that will give you the most bang for your buck, and work on familiarizing yourself with those first (I'll share suggestions later this month.). Play around with them and practice. Resist the urge to think about all the things you're missing.

If you lived a thousand years, you wouldn't have time to learn every resource that is out there right now. But the only resources you need to learn are the ones you NEED in your life to solve specific problems.That might only be a handful of tools for right now. You can add a few more over the next few months, and a few more after that as you're comfortable.

5. Let go of the mentality that you must be trained by someone else in order to use a tech tool

I have never received training in 95% of what I do online. No one taught me how to use a SMARTboard or create screencasts or start a podcast or maintain a website, or any of the other things I do with technology. I just get curious (or get stuck) and do a quick internet search to find blog posts or videos that answer my questions. I try different things out to find the best approach for me personally, and bookmark helpful sites for my reference. I repeat the tasks enough times and experiment enough to feel comfortable, and that's all there is to it!

If you wait until your school district provides training on everything you need to know about technology, you're going to be stuck in the dark ages. Don't put your professional development in the hands of your district and wait for someone else to mandate what and how you learn-it is so much more empowering to take charge!

6. Keep a running list of tech problems you need to solve and tackle them in batches

Got an annoying error message that pops up every time you open a specific application? Don't fall down the rabbit hole now and waste 45 minutes trying to get rid of it. Write the problem down in a Tech Troubleshooting list (perhaps in Google Keep or another tool that syncs across devices) and check it out at a more convenient time when you're in "tech problem solving mode." If you have IT support at your school, you may want to go through the list once a month or so together, rather than trying to figure little things out on a daily basis.

7. Set aside a small, well-defined block of time so you can experiment with tech tools

If you're being selective about how many tools you want to master, prioritizing time to explore those tools won't be a hugely time-consuming task. Be very focused with your goals for that block of time ("I want to learn how to create X and organize Y") and allot some time to researching and trying things out. Just pull up the site or program you want to use, and do what the kids do: play around with it!

Experiment. Make mistakes. Fail, a lot. The only way to really learn something is to explore it yourself. Trial and error is your friend. Kids understand this intuitively: that's why they are fearless with technology and adapt to changes so quickly.

8. Remember that Google is your best friend

If you're fortunate enough to be offered technology PD or have someone show you how to use a tool, don't try memorize everything or write down copious notes about every little detail. When you get stuck, you can Google it: How to copy and paste. How to create an email list. How to download a video from YouTube. No matter where you are on the tech proficiency spectrum, I guarantee that three million other people have already searched for the same thing and there will be dozens if not hundreds of websites and videos with your exact search phrase that will explain, step by step, exactly what to do.

Don't get overwhelmed by the results: pick one with a description that sounds like a good match, and check it out. If you don't find what you're looking for, pick again. You can do this! And the more you practice it, the faster you'll get at finding authoritative sites that provide accurate tutorials.

9. When you find a good resource that explains how to do something, bookmark it/save it to your favorites, or pin it to a Tech Troubleshooting board in your Pinterest account

Don't beat yourself up by saying, "I read it but I don't remember! Someone showed me how to do it but I forgot! I'm so bad with technology!"

No, you're not. And you don't HAVE to remember. Who could possibly memorize all of this? Go back to the site you bookmarked and re-read how to do it, or search again. All the information you need is stored online, so it doesn't need to be stored in your head.

10. Get connected with other educators who can help

Being a connected educator means creating a personal learning network, often called a PLN. The people in your personal learning network are those you connect with to share ideas and encourage each other. You can join Facebook groups for teachers, participate in Twitter chats, follow educator hashtags on Instagram, or use any other social media platform you're comfortable with. You are not alone in this!

Technology is a useful servant but dangerous master. --Christian Lous Lange Click To Tweet
Christian Lous Lange was a Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize winner...and he was born in 1876. If his words were true then, they're doubly true now! Technology is your servant. It's a tool to make your life better, faster, easier, and to make teaching more effective, efficient, and enjoyable. YOU are in charge of your technology, not vice versa. See blog posts/transcripts for all episodes Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Subscribe to the podcast in Stitcher

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Truth For Teachers - 10 tips for avoiding technology overwhelm

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There's one complaint about technology that I hear from almost every single person I talk to: it's just plain overwhelming. There's too much to learn. There are too many options. It's always changing and I'm always behind. Between ed tech for your classroom and the technology you use in your personal life, there's always going to ...

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Augmented Reality provides captivating visuals of Biology content (Asim et al., 2022).

# data[].attributes.body
Think of the possibilities!

Asim, S., Slykhuis, D.,  Ellis, J., & Trumble, J. (2022).  Three domains for technology integration in science teacher education. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 22(2). https://citejournal.org/volume-22/issue-4-22/science/three-domains-for-technology-integration-in-science-teacher-education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Analyze how the SAMR model of technology evaluation takes a Science objective to a higher level

# data[].attributes.headline
Giving students the opportunity to be active citizen scientists through the use of technology 

# data[].attributes.subject
Giving students the opportunity to be active citizen scientists through the use of technology 

# data[].attributes.body
"Citizen science projects are research collaborations between professional scientists and nonexpert members of the community. By getting involved in these projects, students gain practice with authentic research and help professional scientists in their data collection efforts" (Bonney et al., 2016).

Mobile technologies allow data to be crowdsourced (Malykhina, 2013).

Social media allows learners to engage with data and the scientific community (Huang et al., 2018; Tsivitanidou, & Ioannou, 2020).

"The use of social media for learning has been shown to foster active learning, increase the connections between students and their community, and improve collaboration" (Greenhow et al., 2019).

"Concerns that surround privacy and safety of students online, additional research is necessary to define best practices for applying these tools for classroom learning" (Zydney et al., 2021).

"In K-12 settings, citizen science initiatives involve a unique triad of stakeholders – professional scientists, teachers, and students – where both teachers and students can work concurrently as citizen scientists, with teachers often providing a mentoring role for students in the process" (Condon & Wichowsky, 2018; Koomen et al., 2018).

"The role of each stakeholder can vary depending upon the nature of the citizen science project and the age of the student" (Zydney et al., 2021).

"Citizen science projects often focus on the solution of real-world issues using a problem-based approach that aligns with the basic elements of inquiry-based instruction" (Condon & Wichowsky, 2018; Mitchell et al., 2017).

"effective method for incorporating authentic research into the classroom". Additional research is needed in the area of classroom teaching and the impact of citizen science in K-12 education. (Zydney et al., 2021).

Zydney, J. M., Angelone, L., & Rumpke, E. (2021). Lessons learned from an elementary school citizen science project. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 21(3). https://citejournal.org/volume-21/issue-3-21/science/lessons-learned-from-an-elementary-school-citizen-science-project

# data[].attributes.body
Need to insert text & reference

Wright, L., Harkins, H., Kopriva, R., Auty, W., Malkin, L., & Myers, B. (2022). Technology-enhanced tasks to assess three-dimensional science sense-making: Possibilities and lessons learned from the ONPAR NGSS-based classroom assessment project. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 22(2). https://citejournal.org/volume-22/issue-2-22/science/technology-enhanced-tasks-to-assess-three-dimensional-science-sense-making-possibilities-and-lessons-learned-from-the-onpar-ngss-based-classroom-assessment-project

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Well known fact that engagement reduces off-task behaviour.

# data[].attributes.headline
Choosing the right Technology Integration Model

# data[].attributes.subject
Choosing the right Technology Integration Model

# data[].attributes.body
Many models exist:

SAMR ()

TPACK (Mishra & Koehler, 2006),

Triple E (Kolb, 2017),

RAT (Hughes et al., 2006) and

PICRAT (Kimmons et al., 2020).

Need SAMR Reference

Hughes, J., Thomas, R., & Scharber, C. (2006). Assessing technology integration: The RAT–replacement, amplification, and transformation-framework. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education
International Conference Proceedings (pp. 1616-1620). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education.

Kimmons, R., Graham, C. R., & West, R. E. (2020). The PICRAT model for technology integration in teacher preparation. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 20(1). https://citejournal.org/volume-20/issue-1-20/general/the-picrat-model-for-technology-integration-in-teacher-preparation

Kolb, L. (2017). Learning first, technology second: The educator’s guide to designing authentic lessons. International Society for Technology in Education.

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
If technology is available why not use it?

# data[].attributes.body
Bell and Bull (2008) acknowledged that technology is essential in the science classroom “to facilitate data collection and analysis, to enhance scientific understanding through imagery and visualization, and to extend inquiry through communication and collaboration” (p. 92).

While Baram-Tsabari & Osborne (2015) acknowledged that the communication of scientific findings and understanding of phenomenon is a fundamental component of being a scientist.

Below is a list of technologies that can be used in the classroom to communicate such information:

Interactive whiteboard (to project information to the entire class & annotate diagrams)

Learning Management System (to facilitate digital class discussions & collaborative learning)

Public posts (podcasts, video sharing, reflective blogs) (Asim et al., 2022).

Asim, S., Slykhuis, D.,  Ellis, J., & Trumble, J. (2022).  Three domains for technology integration in science teacher education. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 22(2). https://citejournal.org/volume-22/issue-4-22/science/three-domains-for-technology-integration-in-science-teacher-education

Baram-Tsabari, A., & Osborne, J. (2015). Bridging science education and science communication research. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(2), 135-144.

Bell, R. L., & Bull, G. (2008). Technology’s greatest value. In R. L. Bell, J. Gess-Newsome, & J. Luft (Eds.), Technology in the secondary science classroom (pp. 91-96). NSTA Press.

# data[].attributes.body
Advantages of Digital Notebooks:

drawing

audio-recording

video-recording of scientific observations/ experiments

digital photos

option to annotate drawings

organise digital artifacts

data collection with Probeware

Asim, S., Slykhuis, D.,  Ellis, J., & Trumble, J. (2022).  Three domains for technology integration in science teacher education. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 22(2). https://citejournal.org/volume-22/issue-4-22/science/three-domains-for-technology-integration-in-science-teacher-education

Miller, B., & Martin, C. (2016). Digital notebooks for digital natives. Science and Children, 53(5), 84. https://www.nsta.org/science-and-children#tab

Seungoh, P., & Fulton, L. (2017). Learning to use digital science notebooks: A teacher’s perceptions and classroom use. Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 36(4), 361-374.

Using Probeware to Encouage Good Science Learning - YouTube

# data[].attributes.body
1. Canvas

2. Blackboard

3. Schoology

4. Google Classroom

Advantages of LMS:

Biology content can be accessed at any time.

Collaboration with peers.

A place to submit an electronic copy of assessment.

# data[].attributes.body
- Free App (3 Trials)
- Multimedia Notepad
- Organise Information for External Exams