Technologically Illiterate Teachers?

Hmm... Let me check. Yep! It's the 21st Century and the first decade is almost gone!

NOW is the time for INFORMATION FLUENCY.

• The Fischbowl: Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

  I read this post several years ago and it got my blood moving. The author, Karl Fisch lays it on the line. This post was voted the most influential ed-blog post of 2007. It's 2009 already and still a very relevant piece of work. A must read!

  Tags: e-learning, professional-development, technology integration, 21cif, information fluency

  • Here is my list:
    
    1. All educators must achieve a basic level of technological capability.
    
    2. People who do not meet the criterion of #1 should be embarrassed, not proud, to say so in public.
    
    3. We should finally drop the myth of digital natives and digital immigrants. Back in July 2006 I said in my blog, in the context of issuing guidance to parents about e-safety:
    
    "I'm sorry, but I don't go for all this digital natives and immigrants stuff when it comes to this: I don't know anything about the internal combustion engine, but I know it's pretty dangerous to wander about on the road, so I've learnt to handle myself safely when I need to get from one side of the road to the other."
  • 4. Headteachers and Principals who have staff who are technologically-illiterate should be held to account.
    
    5. School inspectors who are technologically illiterate should be encouraged to find alternative employment.
    
    6. Schools, Universities and Teacher training courses who turn out students who are technologically illiterate should have their right to a licence and/or funding questioned.
    
    7. We should stop being so nice. After all, we've got our qualifications and jobs, and we don't have the moral right to sit placidly on the sidelines whilst some educators are potentially jeopardising the chances of our youngsters.
  • If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write.
    
    Extreme? Maybe. Your thoughts?
  • Keep in mind that was written after a particularly frustrating day. I’ve gone back and forth on this issue myself. At times completely agreeing with Terry (and myself above), and at other times stepping back and saying that there’s so much on teacher’s plates that it’s unrealistic to expect them to take this on as quickly as I’d like them to. But then I think of our students, and the fact that they don't much care how much is on our plates. As I've said before, this is the only four years these students will have at our high school - they can't wait for us to figure it out.
  • In order to teach it, we have to do it. How can we teach this to kids, how can we model it, if we aren’t literate ourselves? You need to experience this, you need to explore right along with your students. You need to experience the tools they’ll be using in the 21st century, developing your own networks in parallel with your students. You need to demonstrate continual learning, lifelong learning – for your students, or you will continue to teach your students how to be successful in an age that no longer exists
  • If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write.

• ASCD Inservice: The Curse of the Digitally Illiterate

  A solid and timely article about the professional responsibility all educators have to become digitally literate. The comments on this blog are particularly good. You get a real feel for what's happening in the trenches

  Tags: 21cif, information fluency, information literacy, professional-development, teacher training

  • In his article in the February Educational Leadership ("Learning with Blogs and Wikis"), Bill Ferriter argues that digital tools like RSS feeds and aggregators help educators advance their professional learning. But first, some teachers need to join the ranks of the literate
  • Sadly, digital illiteracy is more common that you might think in schools. There are hundreds of teachers that haven't yet mastered the kinds of tools that have become a part of the fabric of learning—and life—for our students. We ban cell phones, prohibit text messaging, and block every Web application that our students fall in love with. We see gaming as a corrupting influence in the lives of children and remain convinced that Google is making us stupid.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of Information Fluency group favorite links are here.