Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century: New Literacies
21st century skills and serious games: Preparing the N generation
Ensuring that all students have the opportunity to participate fully in society is a daunting challenge for educators. Central to this challenge in the 21st century is changing how we view learning. Serious games, an area that is gaining momentum in education, has potential to transform how we view learning as we meet the fast- paced, ever-changing demands of modern life and work. Forging a conceptual bridge between serious games and 21st century workplace skills, this chapter: 1) defines evolving characteristics of the 21st century learner, 2) synthesizes proposed 21st century skills from different disciplines, and 3) analyzes how certain features of serious games can promote the highly valued 21st century skills of expert problem-solving and complex communication. The chapter closes with a call for more thoughtful empirical studies in order to establish a research base that ultimately will affect policies around the use of serious games in school settings.
Having Our Say: Middle Grade Student Perspectives on School, Technologies, and Academic Engagement
Growing consensus among policy makers and educators alike suggests that our education system must be transformed to address the needs of a global society as well as the needs of the 21st century student. Often overlooked as a resource, students can contribute a valuable perspective on education. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to learn from middle grades students, through surveys and focus groups, what engages them to achieve in school. The findings, which centered on student perspectives of school, uses of technologies in and out of school, and academic engagement, are viewed within the context of global changes and the new demands that this trend places on education. (Keywords: technologies, academic engagement, middle grades, student perspectives.)
New Literacies in the US and China: Middle Grade Teachers Confront the Issues
Central to closing the gap between in-school and out-of-school student technology use is teachers’ dispositions and uses of technologies to support student engagement with new literacies in the classroom. This study presents findings from surveys and focus groups with American and Chinese teachers in an attempt to understand both groups’ perspectives on integrating new literacies into their teaching. Results indicate that although American and Chinese teachers are operating under different policies in their respective countries, their experiences with school changes prompted by the integration of new literacies have similarities. One notable difference was the significantly higher value Chinese teachers assigned to creativity and innovation in contrast to American teachers, which may be a result of current American testing policies. Teachers from both countries are eager to create educational experiences that help students become active global citizens and recognize the role of new literacies in achieving this goal.
Scaffolding the TPCK Framework in Reading and Language Arts: New Literacies and New Minds
In his century old seminal essay, What Knowledge is of Most Worth?, social theorist Herbert Spencer stated that this question needed to be answered before designing curriculum or instruction. As we continue into the 21st century, Spencer’s compelling question is still front and center but now in the midst of fast-paced technological changes that are prompting new literacies. Perhaps in no other area is his question more provocative than in teacher education. Mishra & Koehler (2006) assert that in teacher education, the successful teacher is one who can draw from content, pedagogy and technology, forming a technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) framework—and that it is this knowledge that is of most worth.
The Awakening of Young Adolescent Education in the People’s Republic of China
Fueled by a booming economy and increased interest from international markets, China is breaking all records as it emerges as a dynamic developing country. Because of its vast population, rapidly growing economy, and large research and development investments, China is considered by most an emerging superpower. In the context of dramatic change, the Ministry of Education has created new educational policies impacting young adolescent education that attempt to embrace modernity while simultaneously preserving and honoring the best of Chinese tradition. Currently, the dominant teaching approach is based on the transmission-acceptance model, where teachers transmit knowledge to students through exhibition and clarification. In light of China’s new goal of becoming an innovation oriented society, teachers are beginning to entertain more student-centered models such as quality oriented education, inquiry learning, and cooperative learning. As new policies and constructs for teaching and learning unfold, opportunities for purposeful cultivation of young adolescent education are emerging.
New Media Literacies, Student Generated Content, and the YouTube Aesthetic
The proliferation of content generation and sharing through Web 2.0 tools has created what Henry Jenkins refers to as new media literacies. We explore the application of new media literacies through digital media creation with eighth graders. This pilot project promotes online video capabilities in conjunction with the time-honored practice of adolescents reading classic and young adult literature. Through the project’s curriculum design and pedagogical apparatus, student-generated videos illustrate that complex thinking and learning and the YouTube aesthetic do not need to be mutually exclusive. We provide the theoretical foundations for our work as well as preliminary analysis of student-generated products. In future work, we will introduce a revised scaffolding process that incorporates a series of rubrics (based on Henry Jenkins framework on new media literacies and Biggs and Collis SOLO taxonomy) to facilitate evidence of complex thinking in the students’ video products.
Social Studies and History Teachers’ Uses of Non-Digital and Digital Historical Resources
A gap in the literature on digital history was explored through the use of a survey of 104 high school social studies teachers, administered in a large urban/suburban school district in the southeastern United States. The survey examined the extent to which social studies teachers were using non-digital and digital historical resources and the ways in which they were using them. Results indicated that social studies and history teachers were using primary historical sources, but important questions remained regarding the nature of this use. Specifically, it was found that while the teachers in this survey reported using digital and non-digital primary historical sources in their classrooms, they did not report using these resources in a manner consistent with literature-based best practices for social studies and history education.
Connecting Informal and Formal Learning Experiences in the Age of Participatory Media
The renaissance stimulated by the World Wide Web is generating multiple formats and channels of communication and creativity. These include blogs, wikis, instant messaging, and texting in the realm of writing, podcasting in audio, countless sites such as Flickr for distribution and sharing of images, and video shared via YouTube and other sites. The Pew Internet and American Life project reports that the majority of all teens are now engaged in active creation of online content. The rise of social media reflects new opportunities and outlets for creativity.
Middle Grades Students and Game-Based Learning: Creativity, Engagement, and Writing Achievement
The objective of this research is to present preliminary results of a research and development project called Narrative Theatre, a game-based learning environment for sixth grade students. The goal of the project is to assess the effects of the environment on student creativity, engagement, and writing achievement.