Have the following completed before class on Sept. 22nd.

Follow the links below to find out about:

• Reading Assignments
• Questions
• Reminders for next week's class

Reading Assignments:

• Edutopia (pp. 229 - 256)
• Information Literacy Web sites

The following sites provide some approaches for shifting students from passively consuming information to actively constructing knowledge and understanding by interacting with information.

• The Research Cycle by Jamie McKenzie
• The Big6: Essential Skills for the Information Age by Eisenberg and Berkowitz
• Infozone: A Multi-Stage Model for Research

• Information Literacy and School Improvement:

• Reeves article: "The Impact of Media and Technology in Schools"

This article discusses alternative ways of looking at the relationship between technology and instruction, and follows up on the discussion in the WestEd article, which you read earlier.

Questions:

For this week, you need to respond to two questions. Everyone should respond to  question 1, below, on "Professional Development." You will then have a choice on responding to either question 2 or question 3. Do not respond to both.

• Question 1: Professional Development

The initial interview with George Lucas emphasized the importance of supporting the continuing development of teachers. The authors of the sections in Edutopia assigned for this week suggest substantial changes in the ways teachers participate in professional development.

• How does what they outline differ from practices currently in place in most schools and districts?
• What shortcomings in the status quo are these changes designed to address?

E-mail your response to Dr. Madden.

• Use "Professional Development" in the subject line.
• It should be a minimum of 75 words, and a maximum of 100 words.

• Question 2: Information Literacy

Mr. Hayes wants to incorporate technology into his lessons. He asks his 6th graders to:

• Pick an animal they were interested in learning more about;
• Use 2 class periods to "surf the web" to find information about their animal;
• Write a 2-page report about their animal, using the information they found on the Internet.

From your readings in Edutopia and at the sites above,

• How effective would this kind of assignment be in developing his students' information literacy skills.
• Suggest 3 things that Mr. Hayes could do to improve his activity.
• Justify your 3 suggestions.

E-mail your response to Dr. Madden.

• Use "Improving Information Literacy" in the subject line.
• It should be a minimum of 100 words, and a maximum of 200 words.

• Question 3: Information Literacy and School Improvement

After reading Reeves' article, answer the following questions:

• What are the principal ways of looking at how technology can be used in instruction?
• In what important ways do these approaches differ from each other?
• What impact(s) does each approach have on what, and how well, students learn?
• What empirical evidence is there regarding the impact(s) of alternative approaches to using technology in instruction?
• Of the uses of technology in schools with which you are familiar, which of the approaches outlined by Reeves do they reflect?

E-mail your response to Dr. Madden.

• Use "Reeves Article" in the subject line.
• It should be a minimum of 100 words, and a maximum of 200 words.

Reminders:

1. Your Inspiration assignment is due this week. Remember that you can put your commentary pieces in a word processing file and then just attach it, too.