So Given All This; Do We Really Know This Generation?

1. So Given All This; Do We Really Know This Generation? So Given All This; Do We Really Know This Generation? The Future is Now, It’s Just Not That Well Distributed

2. • Teenagers surveyed use 4-5 active e-mail addresses,in addition to their networking sites • Nearly 60% of teenagers surveyed say they would rather text than use a telephone • They are likely to have 6applicationsrunning at onceon their PC Source: 2008 Microsoft Survey of Computer Users Presented to Pinellas County, FL

3. 96% of U.S. students surveyed say school is important to their success but only 20%believe it is meeting their needs • Over 20% of students reported using the Web to do research for parent purchases Source: 2008 Microsoft Survey of Computer Users Presented to Pinellas County, FL

4. This generation is the first generation to grow up in an environment where services are truly on demand and customized to individual preferences • From ringtones to FaceBook • From playlists to tweets • From texting to sexting • From movies to mashups • From social networks • to virtual worlds

5. Children Aged 8-14 Help Parents on the Web • •Email/pictures – 38% • Respond to correspondence – 36% • Get directions – 35% • Help file income tax online – 14% Source: 2008 Microsoft Survey of Computer Users Presented to Pinellas County, FL

6. •The fastest growing segment of computer users today in the U.S. are 5 to 7 year olds.

7. BTW, SOL U WL problE hav 2 Lern d lingo. othRwIz U wiL hav knO idea wot yor students R sAN 2 1 NothA Bhind yor bak. (By the way, sooner or later you will probably have to learn the lingo. Otherwise you will have know idea what your students are saying to one another behind your back.)

8. “Web 2.0” Redefines What We Learn, How We Learn It and With Whom • Almost any piece of information can now be found online in less than a minute – perhaps intermingled with inaccurate and biased data – so what core knowledge should every student learn to prepare for 21st century work and citizenship? • “Web 2.0” knowledge is constructed by negotiating a consensus articulation across various points of view, so how do we help students understand the difference between facts, opinions and values – and appreciate the interrelationships among them that go beyond accuracy to create “meaning?” Dr. Chris Dede, Harvard Graduate School of Education

11. Shifts in the knowledge and skills society values. Development of new methods of teaching and learning. Changes in the characteristics of learners. Challenges We Face The “Piano” in our Life

12. Looking Inward How is your school or district addressing these trends and using them to your advantage in meeting the needs of the kids you serve? What do you think of the statement: the biggest challenge to change … is our memory?

13. •Education exists in the larger context of society• When society changes – so too must education if it is to remain viable

14. Mental Models and Change • “Mental Models” define whether we “see” changes coming and often “how” we react to change …

18. “If your only tool is a hammer, isn’t it amazing how many things begin to look like a nail.” Abraham Maslow Innovation comes in the strangest places …

19. Innovative Thinking

20. At Scholastic we believe that any plan to disrupt these daunting statistics perhaps begins with but certainly includes a bold and comprehensive literacy plan. 21st century requires a “bigger” definition of literacy

21. Play – experimenting with one’s surroundings in problem solving Performance – adopting alternative identities for improvisation and discovery Simulation – interpreting and constructing dynamic models of real world processes Appropriation – the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content Framework for New Literacies Jenkin’s Framework for New Literacies

22. Multitasking – scanning one’s environment and shifting focus to salient details Distributed Cognition – fluently using tools that expand mental capacities Collective Intelligence – pooling knowledge with others toward a common goal Judgment – evaluating the reliability and credibility of different information sources Framework for New Literacies Jenkin’s Framework for New Literacies

23. Transmedia Navigation – the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities Networking – the ability to search for, synthesize and disseminate information Negotiation – the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms Framework for New Literacies Jenkin’s Framework for New Literacies

24. What Strategy Underpins Race To The Top, School Improvement Grants, And the Reauthorization Acts? It’s a little like building airplanes in flight …

26. Literacy is the Foundation of any Turn-around Strategy • We must embrace a broad definition of literacy - which includes: reading, writing, thinking, listening, speaking and viewing – in various combinations simultaneously • Everyone in the system must accept responsibility for being literateand developing literate young people

27. Literacy is the Foundation of any Turn-around Strategy • Everyone is a teacher of reading, writing, thinking, listening, speaking and viewing • Everyone must have the tools –programs, products and supportto be successful • There must be a straight forward and clear plan and everyone must be able to see themselves in that plan

28. Literacy

29. Clayton Wilcox, Ed.D., Senior Vice President, Education and Corporate Relations cwilcox@scholastic.com