The most important skills for being a lifelong learner who can make effective use of technology are:
- risktaker
- resourceful
- curious
I have a girl in my class right now who has limited experience with computers but I love the fact that she is curious and ask questions in a continuous quest for understanding. She loves the opportunity to try new things on the computer. This engagement is great motivation for her learning.
I try to model problem-solving strategies to my students and my colleagues. I frequently point out to people that I don’t know the answer, but rather than I figure out the answer by trying things (often based on prior experience or curiosity), and searching the web and other resources for help. However, I wonder if there is a certain amount of familiarity with computers that helps people develop efficacy and agency for their own learning using computers; I suspect a reciprocal relationship.
This morning, I’m preparing a presentation for elementary teachers at my school. The presentation is on ICT in the PYP. The IBO advocates for technology being integrated into the curriculum to transform teaching and learning. Transformation feels like a buzz word in education. Do we have a handle on what it is? what it looks like? how we do it? What do we need to remove, add, change for transformation to occur? Can a school just jump to transformation or does transformation occur at the end of or as a consequence of a journey?
In our staff meeting on Wednesday, we’ll be discussing what technology integration could look like at our school. My plan is to work with teachers to map out some technology integration goals at each grade level, identifying a variety of tools that can help us achieve the goals. Below is the visual part of my presentation. We’ll be collaboratively working on a number of Google documents for most of the hour long session.