Can educators in the 21st Century be content experts, but media illiterate and still be relevant?

#Edchat 09 – 20 – 2011 – 18:00 CET 12 PM EST

Unfortunately I was unable to make this week’s edchat so I cannot speak from personal experience, but judging by this summary, it seems to have been another fantastic event! Thank you to Sarah Fudin @USCTeacher for this very insightful precis of a topic that must surely make us all stop and think. Sarah has also provided the two videos which add great weight to her thoughts on the discussion. You can find out more about Sarah in her bio at the end of the summary.  

 The Chat:

In general, I’d say that 21st Century educators first need to be content experts and second need to be media literate to be relevant to their students.  That being said, not all great educators are media literacy experts, but they should be cognisant enough that their lessons are relevant and up to speed.  We can’t expect students to use media correctly if as educators we’re not willing to jump in and learn, share and collaborate with our personal learning network.

 

These were the main points covered in the discussion:   

• Content experts are a necessity, but there is no excuse to be media illiterate
• Let students be your guidance if you need help with technology
• “Media Literate” means willing to learn continuously about tech
• Using new tools is necessary — new learners have new tools
• Media savviness doesn’t necessarily mean great teacher
• Content knowledge is a necessity to evaluate the quality of sources
• Must remember that many teachers are in different places regarding their tech knowledge — differentiating support is necessary
• How do Schools of Ed play into this?  What’s their responsibility?

 

These were a few tweets that caught my eye:   

1. @cybraryman1: The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. #edchat
2. @drdouggreen: teachers should be experts in their subject matter, but that doesn’t mean they should forget the tech #edchat
3. @SamGliksman: How long will it even remain possible these days to become a content expert without connecting and using media? #edchat
4. @tomwhitby: How we teach often reflects how we learn. New learners have new tools. Many teachers learned & teach with old tools. #edchat
5. @J_Bednar: Being a content expert without media literacy is like being a cooking expert but only in raw cuisine. #edchat
6. @cybraryman1: The key is that we all have to be lifelong learners, not afraid to make mistakes and to try new things (like tech to enhance lrng) #edchat
7. @QZLPatriotHawk: We hv 2 remember that many tchers r @ different spots in their tech knowledge & need differentiated support #edchat
8. @TenMarks: RT @CriticalSkills1: @cybraryman1 It’s not about a “tech in ed” course, it’s about showing how to use tech when it’s the right tool for the job #edchat
9. @jheil65: Technology needs to be the medium of education, not an appendage! #edchat
10. @murriza: I think it’s all about trial and error. You check out a new tool. Plan how to use it in your lessons and see if works #edchat
11. @suzemuse: My college has some gr8 success with our Yammer network. 360 teachers & staff interacting & learning from each other. #edchat

 

To follow the complete discussion see here

 These were useful links shared:   

1. Student Blogging Resources: http://mrspripp.blogspot.com/2011/09/student-blogging-resources-to-get-you.html
2. Web 2.0 Tools for Math Educators: http://missnoor.visibli.com/share/rXY1Pn
3. New Media Literacies (video): http://community.learningobjects.com/Users/Nancy.Rubin/Objects_of_Interest/2011/07/The_New_Media_Literacies#.Tni7cvL1uLs.twitter
4. Modeling Tech use for Students: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-ways-model-technology-students-heather-wolpert-gawron?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29
5. On Teacher Development: http://www.edutopia.org/teacher-development-introduction
6. Banned Website Awareness Day: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslissues/bwad/bwad.cfm?utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=AdLit.org

 

I would ask that the following question is added to the poll next week:    

Is it practical to have state standards for testing?  Should standards be nationalized? Should testing even exist?

Sarah Fudin is a Community Manager for the University of Southern California’s Master of Arts in Teaching program, which provides aspiring teachers the opportunity to earn an MAT degree and teaching credential online.  USC also partners with Teacher Certification Map to offer information on teacher salary by state.  Outside of work Sarah enjoys running, reading and Pinkberry frozen yogurt.

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