Beginning to Synthesize

The summer is already coming to an end and here I am feeling unfinished.  Three weeks spent working, reading, studying, meeting with teachers and administrators not to mention all the time put in both before and after the official three weeks from home. And still I feel as though I am only just beginning to establish a cohesive picture of what technology education looks like from kindergarten through eighth grade at AFS.  

This fellowship started with two major goals: map where we are and define where we want to go. I definitely have a better picture in lower school as to what is happening in almost every grade.  There remain holes, even at this late hour mostly because one to two hour conversations barely allow us to peek into the world of the students as they process across a year at any level.  In middle school, the many teachers that are actually part of the student’s educational journey in one week let alone the whole three years further complicate this.  However, together we have created at least an outline of the tools used by the students and teachers in all grades. I know they are not yet all published. All maps will be available, hopefully before the end of the summer.

From this research of current practice, coupled with conversations with teachers, reading and studying across the web I have developed an outline of the six major ways technology is integrated throughout the curriculum.  This is an unfinished work in progress and will be continually updated. The goal is to eventually have this information for all grades defined in one space attached to a calendar. This will allow us to easily see the progression of our students, educational career.  This is not a map of 21^st century skills but instead specific to technology although 21^st century skills are naturally embedded, they do not live here alone.

The schema delineates six areas of technology in our curriculum:

1.     Digital Citizenship and Safety

2.     Media Literacy

3.     Internet Research

4.     Software Proficiency

5.     Programming

6.     Keyboarding

Most of this was already in the curriculum, such as the Internet Research, Programming (Scratch) and Software Proficiency.  However, as there are no longer any formed tech classes there is a need to know where the skills are being embedded into the curriculum and what teachers can reasonably expect their students to be able to do when they come into their classes. Other skills such as Media Literacy and Digital Citizenship will need to have an intentional and spiraling focus through out the life of the student as they progress through the years. As I said in an earlier post, I felt this was a glaring omission and one I would like to fix.

There are other ways of approaching the curriculum that are not listed here, including e learning or learning online, design and gaming.  I thought that we should start with what we are doing and where we can move reasonably in the next few years.  For now these skills, as well as others live under other headings including Media Literacy and Software Proficiency.  As we continue to grow as a school this map will adapt to grow with us.

On a personal note, I know that I have not been so prolific a writer as of late and there have been several meetings and progress that has not been noted.  I hope to catch up over the next week before I go away with my family. I appreciate your support and patience as I work through this process over the next few weeks and the upcoming school year.