Imagine a choir that only practices one song. One song all year, one song every class, one song every concert. Would that choir master that one song? You’d better hope so. Would they learn much more than that one song? Not likely.
That’s what I like about the objectives set out in the Michigan's METS document. The outcomes target areas such as “Communication and Collaboration”, “Technology Operations and Concepts” and “Digital Citizenship”, to name a few, in lieu of software specific objectives. While some application brands are named in the document, the plurality of technologies and the ability to apply one of many is stressed over the mastery of a singular tool. Higher level thinking skills are stressed over isolated tasks.
Another systemic feature that I appreciate is the boldness in focusing on core thinking skills. Seeing categories such as “Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making” and “Learning and Innovation Skills” delights me to see in a government document that actually embraces the idea of teaching thinking over fact retention.
This embrace of the changing nature of information is in my mind critical to free teachers from curricula that are potentially increasingly irrelevant. I was talking with a few of my students this morning about how I regret the fact that I no longer teach Social Studies. The students rolled their eyes (nearly in unison) and asked how could I possibly miss making my students color maps and memorize capitals, as they showed me their course work. It got my blood boiling just looking at the mundane tasks one of my colleagues assigned at a grade 10 level. This is an example of an anti-thinking class!
I am optimistic and excited about documents such as METS because they are applicable to any content area and identify essential skills for students to learn for their futures in the information age. We don’t need to educate students in the mastery of a singular song. We don’t need to educate students for a future in busy work. We need to educate our students to lead a new thinking class.
Being a nontraditional instructor, I enjoyed reading the examples of busy work in the school setting. I think that students get wrapped up in completing busy work assignments rather than learning the lesson at hand. I believe that is where the METS document really comes into play. The document objectives or outcomes express how technology can be used to learn the lessons outlined in the METS document. I agree the focus is not on the technology, but rather how technology can be used to facilitate learning. I think this relates to main theme we are learning in our EDU 590 class is to learn how technology can be used to help students learn in class.
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