EduBlog Insights

for teachers and students. He says it is extremely easy to use and

dsigned for those in and around the esl industry. I haven’t had a

chance to check it out but wanted to post it for those who may be

Today, in a matter of minutes, students can identify these and thousands of other potential resources on the Internet - and, as any teacher will attest, they are not always adept at sorting the wheat from the chaff.

Now the Educational Testing Service, the nonprofit group behind the SAT, Graduate Record Examination and other college tests, has developed a new test that it says can assess students’ ability to make good critical evaluations of the vast amount of material available to them.

The Information and Communications Technology literacy assessment, which will be introduced at about two dozen colleges and universities later this month, is intended to measure students’ ability to manage exercises like sorting e-mail messages or manipulating tables and charts, and to assess how well they organize and interpret information from many sources and in myriad forms. About 10,000 undergraduates at schools from the University of California, Los Angeles to Bronx Community College are expected to take the test during the first offering period, which ends March 31.

Still, just what is meant by ‘information ‘or even ‘technological’ literacy remains a hotly debated topic in academic circles, and there is no widespread agreement on whether such skills can be taught, much less measured in a test. What seems certain, however, is that a lucrative market is emerging for testing companies that are willing to fill the perceived need.

The initial technology test is aimed at midlevel college students, but the Educational Testing Service says it has also received inquiries from high schools and businesses. And while the new assessment is not a high-stakes requirement for academic advancement like the SAT, it seems inevitable that most students will one day need to prove themselves along these lines.

Everybody keeps talking about accountability and point out how the public wants this but I think it’s time that we used multiple ways to assess. Also we need to be focusing on reshaping our curriculum to meet the needs of the infomation age.  Rather than the dreaded weeklong testing sessions that occur in schools each year, we need to move tests  into the background as but one source of data combined with many others to assess learning. Assessment should have an instructional purpose, not just an evaluative or administrative one. I am really concerned that tests are taking over as our focus on learning. We need to focus on improving the quality of student work. I’m fearful of how the testing of technology can be translated to a standardized test.

How about if we made writing the focus of learning?  We’d be much better off than using testing. Writing can be a tool for learning in all disciplines. Actually the National Center for Education Statistics in the U.S. Department of cf Ecucation says it all here:

Effective writing skills are important in all stages of life from early education to future employment. In the business world, as well as in school, students must convey complex ideas and information in a clear, succinct manner. Inadequate writing skills, therefore, could inhibit achievement across the curriculum and in future careers, while proficient writing skills help students convey ideas, deliver instructions, analyze information, and motivate others.

Hmmm, how about if we took the time spent on getting kids ready for tests and instead focused on writing as a means to improve learning in our schools?  

I also keep thinking about all the learning possibilities that the Read/Write Web provides and we are at the beginning stages of so many teachers beginning to rethink teaching, technology to help students make learning connections. Testing of technology by a standardized test could just shut the door on all this. We’re at a critical  junction. Let’s not reduce technology to a “test-prep” mode.

use of Internet technology to facilitate interaction, communication,

and collaboration is well documented but its use in establishing and

developing “personal voice” as part of learning is also now being

addressed through the use of blogs. Finding personal voice as a

pedagogical method is important to establish learner identity and

focus, and journaling has long been recognized as an effective way to

provide space for this to occur. The blog, however, provides a context

in which personal voice can be “published” by the student, which means

that attention is given to content, relevancy, and connection with

learning outcomes to a higher degree than a traditional journal

submission. The idea that more than one person will view the work is

quite powerful in promoting a sense of ownership from the student.

Teachers can also benefit from “hearing” the personal voice of their

students to begin to really understand the learning path of each

student through a course.

blogs were uses as a reflective tool and each student recived a grade

for their blog. The grade was based on the number of posts, not on the

content. Students were to reflect on course readings or personal

experience. The conclusion was that students found this more of a

“chore and were focused only on completing it for the grade. The

instructor’s comments were included. Those are interesting and lend

insight into the study. This instructor felt it is important to model

reflection and provide more guiding questions for the students. The

next plan is to try to use blogs to support more ownership of the

context from the students.

In the second study blogging was used as a journaling tool but was

optional. Out of 25 students, only 3 chose to blog. Those three enjoyed

the convenience and visual permanency of the blog. They discovered that

it made their sequencing easier in terms of thought progression. The

instructor felt that students within a class sharing their blog with

specific individuals t prompt response could be encouraged to support

small group connection and student-to-student support. He thought this

could probably provide more learning support than discussion boards

and/or chat.

The third study consisted of 27 students who blogged. They were in a

first-year creative writing class and were to blog twice a week on any

topic that interested them. A few times the instructor gave them a

topic. No grade was assigned.  Most students enjoyed this at

first, a few didn’t like it, five were very excited about it. One hated

it at first but is now hooked and continues to blog. This instructor

enjoyed blogging and checking student blogs. Blogging will contine next

semester.

In the fourth study 6 students participated in a language support

group. The project will continue next semester and be assessed more

carefully. Students have found that a blogring is helpful in staying

connected.

Summary and Recommendations from the article:

but it’s a beginning. I am glad to see these type of studies coming

out. The good news is that they are going to continue the studies.

They are also going to attempt to better prepare each instructor by

does lead to another. I know you all have experienced that as you surf

the web looking for good resources. I want to share one that I continue

is one of my favorite resources on the web. It is created by educators

for educators. Some days I feel information overload to the nth degree

but I find myself frequently returning to this wonderful collection of

key web resources, organized by topics. Recent articles can be viewed

by anyone; however if the articles are older than 3 months it requires

, Online Resources

They tuned into the fact that every

year in January pundits, experts and others share their thoughts on

what they believe will be the major IT themes during the new year.

In my “one thing leads to another” thought, as I was viewing some of

the excellent links from this issue I found an interesting quote on a

post on Trevor Cook’s blog, From the Sidelines. The post is Here Comes Everything: Can Technology Serve Information Overload? His quote about his article:

In just 2000 words it covers search engines, SEO, google bombing, podcasting,

RSS, real-time searching, bloggercon, scoble, bradbury, and more. The basic

argument is that the way to manage information effectively is to use bloggers as

your intelligent agents.

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”  Blogs can

be a  vehicle to help with inventing the future. Let’s use them in

education!  My

prediction, or maybe I should say my hope, is that conversations on

blogs will be used in ways to reshape many needed changes in

Your writing made me form an opinion about weblogging. My NEW opinion is that blogging is not just about writing, but is also about learning.

Aha! An opinion is being formed…..

Yessenia’s comment to Ashley on the Weblogging Group:

When you write you make it seem as if it is a conversation.

Making connections! A student is taking note of the relationships between readers and writers.

Adriena responds to Estefany’s The Learner:

I am just like you. I put my best foot ahead.

Thinking about learning! A comparison is being made….

Patrick comments on Jhonathan’s post about the Importance of Weblogs:

I think that is a good way to write because the way you put your words in it. You make it seem like you was really talking to somebody. I can tell you’re going to be a good blogger.

Using facts to anticipate possible results! A prediction is given…..

Shelby muses after reading Jhonathan’s post on the History Channel:

After reflecting on your post, I decided that from now on, I will start to watch the History Channel a little more. I do have a suggestion. You should always make sure that you posts are spelled correctly and they make sense. (I think thats how you spell it) I have a question for you. Do you like watching mysteries?

Whoa! A mind is being changed…….
—–

Hillary, the instructional technology specialist, really gets blogging.

I mean REALLY gets it!  When you have a colleague who turns a

corner and understands the joy of blogging, the power of the learning

and also sees future possibilities….well, it doesn’t get much better

than that.  Hillary says Learning to Write is Learning to Think and I couldn’t agree more. This is a great read and if you haven’t added Hillary to your Bloglines list you need to. An excerpt from her blog:

However, the most difficult aspect of writing our students constantly

describe is not plagiarizing.  Why is this so difficult for our young

aspiring writers?  Well, it is just as difficult for me as it is for

them! Since the original author seems to say it so much better, it

seems logical for our students to use their words.  That is where

thinking comes in!  Learning to write is learning to think.  Although

it seems as though we have few original thoughts, we do have our own

original way of viewing things.  We must take into consideration

everything we have done up to this point in our life and use it in

shaping our thoughts.  Then we use those thoughts to analyze,

reject, embrace, and/or argue with the work of others in order to grow

intellectually.

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