Overcoming Educational Obstacles and Assumptions

The NetSaavy framework looks good on paper, but how do we effectively integrate it into the day to day classroom? The first step to improving our students’ information processing abilities is to integrate NetSaavy skills into lessons across the curriculum as early as kindergarten. The skills must then be consistently reinforced and built upon throughout the rest of the students’ educational experience. In order to do this, certain obstacles and assumptions must be overcome. These can be divided into five main categories:
· Assumptions About the Agenda
· Assumptions About Learning
· Assumptions About Information
· Assumptions About Technology in Education
· Assumptions About Assessment

Chapter 10—Assumptions About the Agenda

Teachers are guided by two types of agendas—intrinsic and extrinsic. The intrinsic agenda is “based on a teacher’s personal experiences, interests, special expertise, and deeply held values (Jukes, 2000, p. 107). The intrinsic agenda can affect whether a teacher prefers project-based learning or more traditional lectures, and whether he is willing to experiment by integrating new technology into lessons or prefers to rely on “tried and true” methods of instruction.
The extrinsic agenda is dictated by national, state, district and school requirements. The extrinsic agenda usually has less to do with methods of instruction and deals mostly with the curriculum itself—what material must be taught. The state’s agenda is usually a major factor in determining what goes on in the classroom; in Virginia, this agenda is known as the Standards of Learning. Unfortunately, the curriculum that must be taught does not always coincide with what students want to be learning, and in many cases there is a huge disconnect between the classroom and students’ real lives.

NetSaavy provides a way to bridge this gap. The framework teaches important thinking skills that can be applied to situations in and out of the classroom. When teachers overcome their intrinsic agendas and become open to using technology to teach old stuff in new ways, they can often overcome obstacles presented by the extrinsic agenda. The teacher is not necessarily teaching the cut and dried state curriculum. Instead, the state’s curriculum becomes the context for teaching real-life skills, and the students become more connected to what might otherwise seem like extraneous information.

Chapter 11—Assumptions About Learning

It is a fact that every student entering my classroom does not have the same abilities and skills. However, it is very common in education (and I have done it on occasion) to assume that at a certain level, students will have become proficient in certain areas. As a third grade teacher, I feel pressured to cover a specific curriculum in a specific amount of time in order to prepare for the SOL tests. Yet somewhere in the rush to cover the material, I still need to assess whether my students can “read, listen carefully, take notes, rephrase questions, describe what they have seen, or make a point clearly” (Jukes, 2000, p. 110). Implementing a NetSaavy classroom will help me not only to assess whether my students possess information literacy skills, but will enable me to help individuals focus on the areas that need reinforcement. The student and teacher tools of the NetSaavy framework allow for differentiation in objectives, outcomes, and assessment. I can more closely monitor which students are “getting it” and which are not, and hopefully minimize the learning gaps that can occur in traditional classroom environments.

Chapter 12—Assumptions About Information

In the past, teachers relied on “flat, two-dimensional” paper-based resources to guide their instructions and students’ learning (Jukes, 2000, p. 113). It took a good deal of time for textbooks to be written and edited, and much information was left out in the interest of time, space, bias, and political correctness. The Internet has changed this. There is now anytime, anywhere access to information, published by experts and average Joes alike. Schools are excited by the wealth of information now available to their students, but are facing new challenges like teaching kids how to avoid inappropriate material and how to evaluate the reliability of resources. Schools must prepare kids to function in this “world of digital information and virtual people,” but cannot neglect the skills needed to deal with “paper-based information and real people” (Jukes, 2000, p. 114). Many life skills like morals, good manners, and working and playing safely apply in both worlds, so educators (and parents!) must still focus on these rules and codes in order to raise responsible citizens.

Chapter 13—Assumptions About Technology in Education

As technology in the educational field becomes increasingly more high-tech, schools are spending billions of dollars to accumulate the latest in hardware and software for their students. Unfortunately, very little money is set aside to train educators how to use this technology to effectively teach students. It is not enough to just add a new subject, technology, into the curriculum, where students learn the mechanics of the hardware and software. Technology cannot be taught out of context. Jukes (2000) compares it to teaching the appropriate use of pencils by studying the mechanics of pencils. Some students are using this great new technology to simply type up a final copy of a report, instead of using the vast resources of the Internet to delve deeper into a subject then publish their work.
With technology, we as teachers have the power to make learning irresistible to our students. We can expose them to new experiences that were previously unattainable in a regular walled classroom. We can show them how to ask questions about a topic, then how to find quality information to answer them. We can give the core components of the required curriculum a real-world context and give our students the skills needed to become lifelong learners. We finally have the tools and the power to truly affect the course of our students’ lives.

Chapter 14—Assumptions About Assessment

Assessment—the age old debate. What exactly are we measuring when we give students percentages or letter grades? Is a test of fact recall really a true measure of learning? Is an “A” on a history test where dates and places of important Civil War battles have been memorized and regurgitated going to help a student in the real world? Probably not. Today’s jobs are relying more heavily on process skills, and traditional means of assessment will not give employers a clear picture of the best candidate for the job.
Our means of assessment must change if we are to achieve the anticipated benefits of technology on education. The NetSaavy skills framework can guide that shift in assessment. The framework lays out the skills that will be taught and the processes needed to achieve the desired outcome; the evaluation methods develop as a natural result of this progression. Not all students are evaluated in identical ways; the framework allows for instruction and evaluation that meet individual needs and learning styles. Teachers become guides and facilitators for student-centered learning instead of being the dispensers of all information and the givers of random letter grades.

Chapter 15--The Case for NetSaavy

It is hard to name any areas of our lives where technology has not already made a profound difference. From medicine, to the way we cook our food, to the way we get to work, to the bed we sleep on at night, our l ives have generally been improved by technology. Technology is also affecting the way we obtain and process information. It is this area that teachers must be prepared for. We have a responsibility to learn as much as we can about the capabilities and the endless possibilities of technology so that we can prepare our students to be successful in the Information Age.

References
Jukes, I., Dosaj, A., Macdonald, B. (2000). net.savvy: Building information literacy in the classroom (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.

The NetSaavy Skills Framework

Project-based classroom learning is an ideal opportunity to imbed lessons to develop Internet and other information skills. To do this effectively though, the teacher must be aware of the skills students already have, what skills require additional practice, and which skills are brand new to students. The NetSaavy Skills Framework is a time-saving tool to help in this determination.

The Framework is formed around the 5As of information literacy that have been previously discussed. For each stage, skills are broken down into 5 broad categories:

• Essential Skills--skills needed to complete each stage successfully
• Prerequisite Skills--skills that the students presumably already have
• Techniques Skills--how the skills are achtually implemented
• Technology Skills--the equipment needed for the project
• Review Skills--the process of evaluating how well each stage is learned (Jukes, 2004, p. 69)

The Framework is set up so teachers can see at a glance which skills in each stage would be an appropriate focus at each grade level. For example, as a third grade teacher, it would be appropriate for me to plan a lesson which will give students an opportunity to practice determining what is already known and what needs to be known in order to answer a question. This is an Asking technique skill that is emerging in intermediate (grades 3-5) students. In my class, there will obviously be students who are already competently using this skill and others who have only been introduced to it, just like there are learning differences across every subject. I will have to design a lesson that allows all students to improve their skills, regardless of their current level. On the other hand, I would not want to plan a lesson with the objective of having students determine subjective and objective opinions, as this is an analyzing essential skill that is emerging in high school students.

I can use the NetSaavy Skills Framework in conjunction with my county's curriculum map to guide my lesson planning. The curriculum map tells me what I am required to teach, but I can use the Framework to help me plan lessons that will allow me to get the most "bang for my buck." While I am teaching the county's material, I can use lessons that introduce and enhance students' information skills. In the long run, I believe the skills developed using the 5As to delve into the world of Ancient Mali will be more beneficial to the students' future lives than memorizing facts that I spew at them for the test.

Ch. 9--Stage 5: ASSESSING

The last stage in any project is assessing what has been learned. When using the 5As format, the teacher is not the only one responsible for assessment. The students also plays a major role in evaluating what they have learned from an assignment and how comfortable they would be using those skills in future projects. In the past, a student's report "would normally be marked on the content and presentation. In the Information and Communication Age, although content is still important, equal value is given to the acquisition of the process skills used to complete the project" (Jukes, 2004, p. 64). In the Assessing stage, both students and teachers look back on the project to see what knowledge was gained, what skills were learned, and what skills still need to be improved.

I often use rubrics in my class so that my students, their parents, and I all know what I am looking for in projects, but the rubrics do not help me to assess the acquisition of process skills. Although I believe parts of the Student Assessing Tool for Process Skills (Jukes, 2004, p. 66) are too advanced for my third graders, I could definitely scale it back to be appropriate on their level. Using a tool like this would help me plan future projects by telling me which skills are firmly grasped and which ones require further instruction and practice.

References

Jukes, I., Dosaj, A., Macdonald, B. (2000). net.savvy: Building information literacy in the classroom (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.