Alan November's article on "4 things every student should learn... but not every school is teaching" identified four non-academic standards that are crucially important to student success, but not necessarily taught in schools. His four standards were:
1. Global empathy (understanding and appreciating others' views)
2. Social and ethical responsibility on the web (avoiding things like cyber bullying and sexting)
3. The permanence of information posted online (students don't realize the web is archived every couple of days)
4. Critical thinking about the information found online (not everything on the web is true! ... gasp!)
I believe November makes very valid points. While I realize the world is moving more to a digital format, I don't want to forget that there are already non-academic standards that we're teaching our students relating more to face-to-face interactions. We already teach our students the importance of teamwork, cooperation, respect, and communication, and I hope we don't lose sight of the fact that face-to-face skills are as important as digital skills.
What really struck a cord with me was reading November's 4th point regarding critical thinking. I can't even count how many of my 5th graders have at one point reported back bogus information when researching on the web. I think it's incredibly important to equip students with the skills they need to be able to determine what makes a website credible. I also think that encouraging higher level thinking skills helps us teach students about plagiarism and the importance of being able to summarize information and put it into their own words. I usually tackle these huge issues by providing "mini-lessons" throughout a project that involves research on the web. I don't really have any time built into my schedule/curriculum that would allow me to focus on it solely, so it becomes necessary to overlap.
I think I'd like to focus more on his point about developing empathy in our students next year. Understanding and appreciating different viewpoints is a lifelong skill that can only benefit students.
You bring up a good point when stating that students need to know how to look for a credible website. There are so many websites out there, and right from the start it is important that students know what website are great informational sites and which ones are just no good!
ReplyDeleteWhen speaking of empathy students need to know that it is important to listen to other peoples' viewpoints. They may bring up some good points that they may not have thought of at that time!
I agree that most students have difficulty determining the validity of information obtained on the internet. And the number of websites out there is truly overwhelming. Maybe teachers could help by suggesting several websites that they know are reliable for the students to access first.
ReplyDeleteIt struck me that many of these ideas are just as important in a print and fact-to-face world as on the web. They are just increased online as students are in a less "walled garden" environment where we have pre-selected what they have access to.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I might suggest (coming from a library background) is that people work with their school librarian on some of these issues. This are things they can teach.