District Administration - March 2007 - (Page 97)

Warning : session_start : The session id contains invalid characters, valid characters are only a-z, A-Z and 0-9 in /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php on line 9 Warning : session_start : Cannot send session cache limiter - headers already sent output started at /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php:9 in /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php on line 9 Warning : Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by output started at /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php:9 in /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php on line 10 TheOnlineEdge • A new “C-Change” in education dds are pretty good that if you’re talking about changes to teaching and learning that the new Read/Write Web is bringing about, many of the words you are using start with “C.” There’s a whole new world out there with a whole new set of skills our kids need to manage. I guess you could call it a “C change.” Will Richardson The Seven C’s of Learning O do centers around paper passed back and forth in the classroom, we are doing our students a grave disservice. In contrast, Marco Torres’s students at San Fernando Calif. High School create promotional pieces for local bands and video projects that become public service announcements on television. Communication The ways in which we communicate are changing daily. Phones are not just for talking; they’re for texting, creating and sharing multimedia content, and for computing. E-mail is already just for us old folks, but as we become more connected, instant communications will rule the day. Are we currently instructing our staff and students how to become effective and ethical users of cell phones, instant messaging, blogs and the like? Connection Infor mation is being generated at an incredible rate, and we have little hope of being able to make sense of it all by ourselves. That’s why it’s crucial that we teach our students RESOURCES Clarence Fisher’s Excellence and Imagination Blog Mr-ﬁ sher.edublogs.org Thanks to technology, instant communications rule the day. to make long-lasting connections to trusted sources and ﬁlters on the Internet. We need to produce students who are skilled at making and sustaining these connections. For example, Clarence Fisher’s students in Manitoba are building global networks through the use of blogs. Community The Web certainly opens us up to all sorts of conversations on a global scale. But this new Web also makes it easier to tap into resources just down the road as well. There are mentors in our midst, local stories to be told, and a rich trove of resources with information about our schools and our communities we can now bring to our districts classrooms with ease. Continual Learning Lea r ning is now a 24/7/365 activity. As a result, we now have the opportunity to teach students to be lifelong learners and to create their own independent learning practice they can carry with them. Effective and ethical strategies for organizing the surrounding world are therefore crucia l for educators to model and teach. For example, students at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia continue discussions and collaborate online at any time, day or night. Culture One of the most profound shifts we are undergoing is the move from a passive, consumer-based culture to a participatory, production-based culture. To continue to approach schooling from a content delivery model puts us at risk of quickly becoming irrelevant. DA Will Richardson is a contributing editor to DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION and The Pulse: Education’s Place for Debate. March 2007 97 Flat Classroom Project F l a t cl a s s r o o m p r o j e c t .wikispace s.com Collaboration/Cooperation From Wikipedia to open source softwa re, millions of people are working together on the Web to produce a variety of free tools and resources. This is the new spirit that the Web is fostering. Our students will live and work in a world where co-creation is the norm, and there is much to teach them about that process. The “Flat Classroom Project” teams up students from Bangladesh and Georgia to study the ways in which technology is changing the world. Creation/Contribution We can create and publish as easily as we read, and we must teach our students to leverage this ability and add their own work to the global conversation in meaningful ways. If the bulk of what we ask our students to Science Leadership Academy s ci e n c e l e a d e r s h i p . o r g Marco Torres’s iCan Festival de Cine w w w.s f e t t .com www.DistrictAdministration.com OnlineEdge_307.indd OnlineEdge_307.indd 1 2/13/07 11:24:13 AM Warning : Unknown : The session id contains invalid characters, valid characters are only a-z, A-Z and 0-9 in Unknown on line 0 Warning : Unknown : Failed to write session data files . Please verify that the current setting of session.save_path is correct /var/lib/php/session in Unknown on line 0 http://Mr-fisher.edublogs.org http://wikispaces.com http://scienceleadership.org http://www.sfett.com http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - March 2007

Contents
Editor's Letter
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Friday Night Fever
Creating an Effective Virtual School Program
Hunting for Talent
Multimedia Man
Do These Web Sites Work?
Finding Funds for Student Laptops
Curriculum Crassifieds
Gearing Up for Science Assessments
New Products
Computer Literature
Speaking Out
Principal Opinion
The Online Edge
Calendar of Events
Problem/Solution
Research Corner

District Administration - March 2007