• Online - no travel to campus required
• Next session:
  EDUC 744 964 September 29- December 5, 2008
  
• 3 graduate credits

Description

To be most effective, citizens of the 21st century will need to creatively blend several relatively traditional skills with emerging information and communication tools; problem solving; collaborative teamwork; and creative and critical thinking skills. And they will need to practice these skills in an information landscape that is genre-shifting, media-rich, participatory, socially connected, and brilliantly chaotic.  To be most effective, students also need understandings of traditional information structures as well as understandings of the shifts in the way knowledge is built and organized.

Business and industry have continually purported that today's schools are not in sync with the learning needs of today’s students. This course will address that gap and model the use of Web-based tools and resources, among the best vehicles we have for achieving 21st century skills -- and, in the process, expand your own 21st century expertise.

This course is designed for educators and support staff at all levels including special education teachers and curriculum coordinators.

Conducted online with no face-to-face class sessions, you may participate using your home or work computer without having to drive to campus.

You will connect to learning modules and class discussion via the World Wide Web and obtain readings, retrieve and submit assignments, access the university's online library resources, discuss with other participants, and have frequent personal contact with the instructor via email.

The class is highly interactive with a significant discussion component. All projects/assignments will be submitted via e-mail or presented via the WWW. Instructor/peer comments will be available through discussion groups or sent by e-mail.

Required Textbook
Readings will be assigned from the following textbook:

McCain, Ted. (2005) Teaching for Tomorrow: Teaching Content and Problem-Solving Skills. Corwin Press.
ISBN: 978-141291384-5 (Paperback)

This book is available used or new from online book stores such as
http://www.amazon.com/
 or
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

Content Outline
1. Defining the Need for Change

• What skills will students need for the 21st century?
• What gaps exist between 21st century skills and current instructional content and delivery?
• Digital immigrants and digital natives
• NETS standards and AASL revised technology and information literacy guidelines
• National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores
• How teachers learn to use technology
• Measuring the quantity and quality of technology integration

2. Framework for 21st Century Learning Overview
3. Rigorous and Relevant Questions
4. Team-based Problem Solving and Inquiry
5. The Big6™ Information Problem Solving Model
6. Information, Media and Technology Skills
7. Creativity and Innovation in a Flat World
8. 21st Century Assessment

Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Use the online environment to communicate and work collaboratively to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. (WI DPI 6, 10)
2. Analyze current research on the profound gap between the knowledge and skills most students learn in school and the knowledge and skills needed in increasingly dynamic communities and workplaces. (WI DPI  1, 3, 4, 7)
3. Understand the impact of aligning classroom environments with real world environments by infusing problem-solving. (WI DPI 4, 7)
4. Measure the impact of problem-based scenarios and simulations combined with technology on student learning. (WI DPI 8)
5. Assess the level of 21st Century Skills implementation in a school and begin a dialogue about the importance of 21st century skills among stakeholders.(WI DPI 6, 8, 10)
6. Apply instructional strategies for infusing problem-solving, rigorous and relevant questions, systems thinking, problem identification, formulation and solution) into instruction. (WI DPI  4)
7. Apply current research about successful teaching strategies to guide students before, during and after case scenarios, brainstorming, role playing, and simulations. (WI DPI  1, 2, 3, 4, 7)
8. Adapt problem-solving learning appropriately for diverse populations of students, including students with exceptionalities.
9. Analyze the relationship between critical and creative thinking. (WI DPI 1, 4, 7) 
10. Apply technology tools in classroom instruction to develop high level information and communication literacy skills. (WI DPI  3, 4, 6)
11. Design and publish an electronic portfolio of course artifacts infusing problem solving, teamwork, creative thinking, contextual learning in curricular areas, and technology tools. (WI DPI  1, 3, 4, 6, 7)
    

Alignment with State Standards
Participants in this class will gain experience that will help them meet the following Wisconsin Teaching Standards: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10

Prerequisites
Hardware and Software Requirements

What are the minimum technology requirements?
Complete the system checkup on this website, https://uwstout.courses.wisconsin.edu/
by clicking on the link that says: Check your system.

Review the list of compatible/recommended browsers and software programs for Learn@UWStout at the Online Help Desk.

If you have any questions about these preferences, please call one of the numbers listed below and indicate that you are a UW-Stout student needing help with Learn@UW-Stout . Help is available 7 days a week.

• 1-888-435-7589 select option 3
, or
• 1-608-264-4357 select option 3

You need to know how to send and receive e-mail, how to log onto the Internet through an Internet Service Provider, how to use a browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox or Netscape, and how to cut and paste URLs.

Take a few minutes to review the Frequently Asked Questions, (FAQs).

All projects will be exchanged by e-mail and the course DropBox, and your instructor will provide feedback, suggestions and comments by reply e-mail and the DropBox feedback.

Instructor
Becky Mather - background information

Registration
Tuition is payable by university billing, MasterCard, or Visa.
Participants who select the payment plan option must complete the payment agreement form.

Enrollment is limited to twenty participants; register online early. Check out the list of additional online classes .

For additional information, e-mail your comments or questions to:

Contact: Joan M. Vandervelde
Online Professional Development Coordinator
School of Education
University of Wisconsin - Stout
Menomonie, WI 54751
phone: (715) 642-0209
fax: (715) 232-3385

Introduction Activities
After you are enrolled, review the Student Expectations and Responsibilities and Academic Expectations and Dishonesty Policy .