This Message Center is organized and operated by David Vitale The following article was shared with teachers involved in the online learning tools discussion group. Its contents have implications for all of us.

As you've heard mentioned in our discussions, the use of online learning tools promotes not just a greater understanding of technology and a digital literacy. Tools like the ones you're using are ultimately designed to foster student decision-making on how to demonstrate an understanding of course concepts and knowledge. Differentiated instruction is a popular buzzword that generally means the same thing, but that often connotes numerous custom designed lessons that are great in theory, but difficult to accomplish in reality.

The attached article provides some ideas of what ownership of learning looks like in classrooms. I've highlighted a portion of the article for emphasis. The premise is that students become more engaged and task focused when they are allowed to make responsible decisions. A responsible decision, therefore, might be an option to choose a response to an assignment that meets your criteria for learning, but that is not necessarily like everyone else's response. Would this level of choice would be unnerving to teachers?

By the way, Bitstrips is an online comic strip creator that launched in March 2008.

posted March 3, 2009 | comments « back to Message Center home

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