The main argument is that educational reform in the United States needs to have a direction to be effective, and its not through test scores. Test scores don't lead to real education.
Do you agree or disagree with his argument?
Personally, I believe that most educators would agree with his argument, which is why there was a current push for implementing PBLs within the classroom. We want students to be able to learn without the constant aide of a teacher, which is why project-oriented learning is emphasized. It relates classroom learning to real-world situations. This also, assess knowledge and understanding that is gained from the students. PBLs are authentic assessments.
Make connections between the ideas presented in this Keynote and concepts explored in this course. Be specific, use quotes from at least 5 course readings, your response should be around 500-800 words.
In this course we have often
discussed how education needs a new system of assessment within the
classroom. Digital and Multimodal literacies is a great way to change the
paradigm of testing in education.
Moreover, knowledge is made accessible to all
learners via distinct portals, such as connections between students’ linguistic
and cultural knowledge and classroom literacy practices, small group lessons in
which more advanced students can scaffold participation, a variety of
strategically employed pedagogical and discourse practices, use of a wide range
of texts, and explicit instruction by ‘experts’ such as the teacher (Black, 2007) .
This is a point made in the Keynote speaker’s
lecture. He believes that the new god in education is test scores. People need
proof of their child’s learning, even though they know that the students are
learning something useful and powerful. This is true in education. Teachers are
forced to “teach the test”. Therefore, there is no extra time to use technology
and multimodal projects to encourage and promote learning. The learning is
forced to the questions that the test focuses on for each grade level. “Classrooms
that privilege alphabetic, print‐based,
hard copy texts over electronic, multimedia and online texts are failing to
capitalize on their students’ expertise and creating dissonance, as well as
perpetuating disadvantage for those teens, who are not engaging with new texts
outside of school” (Adlington &
Hansford, 2008).
The
Keynote speaker mentioned the fact that technology is used to produce better
test scores, not liberate them. Technology is a powerful supplement to
learning, and it should not be used as the only means of learning or as a way
to help test scores.
In today’s
world, a literate person must be able to read and create a range of
paper-based and online texts (newspapers, pamphlets, websites, books,
Kindle, and so on), participate in and create virtual settings
(classrooms, Second Life, Facebook, Elluminate, blogs, wikis) that use
interactive and dynamic Web 2.0 tools, and critically analyze multimodal
texts that integrate visual, musical, dramatic, digital, and new literacies
(Sanders & Albers).
Learning has to take place on a
global campus with students. Taking cultural texts and creating meaning within
the classroom makes learning relevant to students’ lives. It is important to
realize that students’ ability to use technology and gather meaning from
multimodal/multimedia literacies in various situations both in and out of
school is what makes them successful as learners. “Yet,
the quality of what someone puts down on paper, posts online or types into a
Blackberry cannot necessarily be held to a single standard of good versus bad
writing. Instead, it depends on an old concept: audience” (Karp,
2010). This concept is relevant to
new and old literacies. Writing can’t be limited to a specific type of text,
nor the limitations of a rubric. What might be an acceptable form of language
on Instant Messaging may be different than appropriate speeches in a formal
report. Literature and assignments should focus on the basics, such as the audience
and point of the text. The way we can incorporate relevant authentic learning
is by having students involved in their learning. One way is through rubrics.
It is now a relatively
common practice, for example, for composition teachers to work with students to
compile a list of criteria for students to use as they compose (Figure 1) and
then to use these criteria in creating a related grading rubric for a
particular writing assignment—one that takes into account purpose, audience,
and the forms that rhetorically effective texts might take
Rubrics are just an example of
the way students can be incorporated into their learning. This promotes student
autonomy because they will be fully aware of what is expected of them and the
goal they need to accomplish. This is why the Keynote speaker suggests
project-oriented learning that involve relevant issues to the students. This
course and the video discusses the different types of educational testing—the new
reform and traditional methods of assessment. The United States needs to shift
away from the traditional paper tests and learn from the knowledge our students
already have, and expand upon that.
Resources
Adlington, R., & Hansford, D.
(2008, July 6). Digital spaces and young people’s online authoring:
Challenges for teachers. Retrieved June 10, 2013, from National
Conference for Teachers of English and Literacy:
http://www.englishliteracyconference.com.au/files/documents/AdlingtonHansford-Digital%20spaces.pdf
Black, R. W. (2007, November 4). Fanfiction Writing and the
Construction of Space. E-Learning, 4, 384-397. doi:10.2304/384
Borton, S. C., & Huot, B. (n.d.). Chapter
8: Responding and Assessing. Retrieved July 16, 2013, from Google
Docs: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6DFAmexYq7veC02bzZxTGVZT1k/edit
Karp, J. (2010, January 26). Does Digital Media Make Us Bad Learners? Spotlight
on Digital Media and Learning. Retrieved May 20, 2013, from
http://spotlight.macfound.org/featured-stories/entry/does-digital-media-make-us-bad-writershttp://spotlight.macfound.org/featured-stories/entry/does-digital-media-make-us-bad-writers
Sanders, J., & Albers, P.
(n.d.). Multimodal Literacies: An Introduction. Retrieved June
4, 2013, from NCTE:
https://secure.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Books/Sample/32142Intro_x.pdf
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