"Life In The 21st Century"

You probably think my post title is about reaching the heights of the educational plateau...Not.
I really want to attend the Leadership Summit held right here in New York City from
March 18-19; not that I am an innovative thinker but that's my day job. Anyway, "The goal of the summit is to challenge 200 of the nation's most innovative thinkers to come up with a dynamic action plan that addresses three core areas - literacy, student achievement, and 21st century learning skills" a quote from Evan St. Lifer, the editor at School Library Journal in his recent article Literacy Skills Are in Vogue. I am sure most schools who integrate technology and information need to capitalize on the proficiencies being acquired. Increased connectivity has made computer literacy a major part of the school curriculum. Today more and more teachers are encouraging students to use technology during their learning. This new emphasis on technology in student learning demands answers to a number of questions relating to parent attributions associated with the computer literacy of their child(ren). For example, "Is the technology at my child's school adequate"? "Is the use of technology in my child's school correlated with my child's use of technology at home"? I will examine the opinions of parents toward technology in their child's school...this is a quote from the Informed Insight: Parental Attitudes toward Technology article By Clyde Winters. thanks to Educational Technology Ray Schroeder, editor)
And waiting until a student is in college to teach information literacy is almost too late. I had a discussion with a library specialist at the New York Public Library and she found a lack of incoming students fully understanding how to research and assess information. And according to St. Lifer there's now a Summit in place to start the process for schools to consider adopting. "The good news is that the education community is now acknowledging that information-literacy skills are a fundamental building block in a student's ability to acquire knowledge. The bad news is that the library community is not an active participant in ETS's new test or a major player in the Partnership for 21st Century Learning initiative. I find this ironic, considering that information-literacy skills form the philosophical backbone of both projects."

This is very good news and I would love to be there....just to take blog notes. Where there's a will there's a way.

# posted by Mrs.Bowllan @ 1:02 PM