Transcript CUFApresentation

Gayle Y. Thieman, Ed. D.
Portland State University
NCSS-CUFA 11/11/09
Purpose
 How do pre-service teachers in a graduate teacher
education program engage secondary students in
digital citizenship to support critical thinking,
communication, collaboration, and creative problem
solving?
 Seven year study of student teaching work samples
 Examined lessons through lens of National
Educational Technology Standards-Students (ISTE,
2007) Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2007), and
Civic Mission of Schools (2003)
Digital Divide vs. Digital Disconnect
• Teachers cite K-12
students’ lack of
technology at home or
schools as a barrier to
incorporating
technology into their
lessons
 Yet more students are
coming to school with
cell phones, media
players, game devices,
and laptops
Students need to learn how to use multiple
technologies as tools for learning, communication, and
participation, both locally and globally.
NCSS Members Support
• More attention to studying controversial issues,
multicultural and global issues
• Greater emphasis on integrating technology into the
curriculum
• Stronger linkages of social studies learning to social
responsibility and civic action
(NCSS Curriculum Standards Revision Committee hearings, NCSS, Houston, 2008)
“Social studies educators must provide young people with
the awareness and abilities to critically question and create
new media and technology, as well as the digital,
democratic experiences, necessary to become active
participants in the shaping of democracy”.
NCSS Position Statement on Media Literacy (NCSS, 2009)
Methodology
 Initial study of 223
elementary and
secondary pre-service
teachers in graduate
teacher education
program (2002-2007)
 Follow up study of 35
secondary social studies
pre-service teachers
(2008-2009)
 All pre-service teachers
took
Instruction/Technology
course prior to Student
Teaching
Initial Findings: K-12 students’ use of technology
 50% of work samples and
reflections documented K-12
students’ use of technology in
creativity and innovation,
communication and
collaboration, and research and
information fluency. (2002-2007)
 Little evidence that K-12 students
used technology to support
critical thinking, problem solving,
and decision-making.
 Richest examples of digital
citizenship were seen in social
studies work samples (N=42)
Follow-up Study Examines Social Studies Work Samples
for Secondary Students’ Demonstration of
Digital Citizenship (2008-2009)
1) Responsible citizens are informed; they are able to
access, research, manage, evaluate and use
information.
2) Informed citizens understand complex public
issues and diverse perspectives.
3) Competent citizens think critically and creatively,
evaluate and make informed decisions.
4) Effective citizens communicate with diverse
audiences.
5) Committed citizens work collaboratively to solve
problems.
Findings from Secondary Social Studies Work
Samples (N=47)
1. Responsible citizens are informed: able to
access, research, manage, evaluate & use
information
 Online primary sources
 role of women in ancient Rome
 Socratic Seminar on revolutions
 Historical data on lynchings
 Electoral college maps
1. Responsible citizens are informed: able to access,
research, manage, evaluate, and use information
 Music and Video Clips
 Analyze lyrics from 1920’s, 1960’s, contemporary rap
 Access online digital video libraries: Kennedy-Nixon
debates, Harlem Renaissance, New deal, election
campaigns of 1964-2004.
 Podcast on 19th century reform movements
 Images
 Digital photos of U.S. southwest, Central American
cultures; political and historical cartoons, consumer ads,
interactive map activities—Google Earth
2. Informed citizens understand complex public issues
and diverse perspectives
 Comparison and contrast, multiple perspectives
 Obama economic stimulus plan & New Deal policies
 U.S. & U.S.S.R. Cold War propaganda
 Axis versus Allied perspectives during World War II
 MLK “I Have a Dream Speech” & Obama speech on race
 Northern and southern perspectives prior to Civil War—
quotes from former slaves, historic figures & legislation
 Porta Portal accounts to organize digital resources &
facilitate students’ research
 Web-Quests on abolitionist movement & contemporary
social justice issues
3. Competent citizens think critically & creatively,
evaluate & make informed decisions
 Graph Chinese government policy over time to illustrate




ideological vs. pragmatic orientations
Write “I am from” poems from African American
perspective—GI returning home to Jim Crow and racism;
female Liberty Ship worker fired to make way for returning
soldiers
Examined digital photos of historic sites & created dough
art replicas
Created newsletter, artwork, poetry from perspective of
Japanese internees
Created civil war personality and “My America Facepage”
from avatar’s perspective
4. Effective Citizens Communicate with Diverse
Audiences
 From interviews and traditional letters to digital
emails & wiki postings
 Interviewed family members about reform movements
 Wrote letters to Presidents Bush & Fox re: problems in
Mexico
 Wrote letters to Senators re: US immigration policy;
Representatives re: Economic Stimulus Act
 Teachers created wikis
5. Committed citizens work collaboratively to
solve problems.
 Cooperative learning groups on a variety of topics
 Shared their knowledge through role plays, skits,
simulations, multimedia presentations, webquests.
 No students used collaborative digital tools, e.g.,
Google docs or international projects, I-Earn
 Teachers selected problems or issues to reflect
state or district curriculum standards
 Students’ conclusions communicated only to the
teacher or fellow classmates.
Continuing Challenges
 Students more adept at social use of emerging technologies





than for academic or civic purposes
Digital divide between technologically rich and poor
schools and students
Digital disconnect between tech savvy students and tech
phobic teachers (Friedman and Hicks, 2006)
Students required to “power down” when they enter the
classroom (O’Brien 2008)
Few connections between students’ online activity and
civic matters
Need to better integrate social and public worlds of young
people online (Bennett, 2008)