Disrupting SchoolLearning in the 21st Century

Dr. Alec Couros - March 9, 2012Central East Alberta Teacher’s Convention

#ceatca

me

Who Am I?

The Blur

eci831.ca

my students

memories of media past

Gaming

Music

Computing

720K

1.44MB

Web 1.0

current context

Mobile Reality

ParticipatoryMedia

“60 hours of video are uploaded every minute, or one hour of video is

uploaded to Youtube every second.”

“Over 4 billion videos are viewed a day.”

“Over 800 million unique users visit Youtube every month.”

“More video is uploaded to YouTube in one month that the 3 major US networks

created in 60 years.”

enabled by the same affordances

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dolmansaxlil/4802611949/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dolmansaxlil/4802611949/

networks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImAD8BOBOhw

Howard Rheingold

• “Understanding how networks work is one of the most important literacies of the 21st century.” (2010)

Network Literacies

memes

“The gene has it’s cultural analog too: the meme. In cultural evolution, a meme is a

replicator and propagator - an idea, a fashion, a chain letter, or a conspiracy

theory. On a bad day, a meme is a virus”

Lowenstein, 1999

http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/3601144842/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Condescending Willy Wonka

Condescending Willy Wonka

Scumbag Steve

Scumbag Steve

Unhelpful Highschool Teacher

Unhelpful Highschool Teacher

“...for all the money, tax revenue and intelligence that Western governments have at their disposal (they) seemingly cannot get their heads around a simple enough concept that wherever one

is, someone is watching and recording.”

Zack Whitaker

21st Century Learning Networks

21st Century Learning Networks

info/media literacy

\

what does it mean when you like something?

digital fluency

Framework for Student Learning, Government of Alberta (2011)

“Technological fluency means much more than the ability to use technological tools;

that would be equivalent to understanding a few common phrases in a language. To become truly fluent in a language (like

English or French), one must be able to articulate a complex idea or tell an engaging story -- that is, to be able to make things of

significance with these tools. ”

The Computer Clubhouse: Technology Fluency in the Inner City, Resnick, Rusk, & Cooke (1998)

The Difference Between Digital Literacy & Digital Fluency, C. Briggs (2011)

“... our ability to use digital technologies to have the intended positive effect on people & situations.”

The Difference Between Digital Literacy & Digital Fluency, C. Briggs (2011)

“... the more fluent a person is, the better they are able to predict the outcome of their actions.”

identity

“The average digital birth of children happens at about 6 months.”

“In Canada, US, UK, France Italy, Germany & Spain ... 81% of children under the age of two have some kind

of digital profile or footprint.”

Justin Bieber

“Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility

of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute and hating

the work.”

“parents spotted Facebook comments she wrote describing

students as ‘germ bags’ and parents as ‘snobby’ and arrogant.”

inspirations

1

Best Job in the World

Stephen Downes

• “Ten years ago, not one student in a hundred, nay, one in a thousand, could have produced videos like this. It’s a whole new skill, a vital and important skill, and one utterly necessary not simply from the perspective of creating but also of comprehending video communication today.

On Digital Video

2

3

4

5

“To answer your question, I did use Youtube to learn how to dance. I

consider it my ‘main’ teacher.”

“10 years ago, street dance was very exclusive, especially rare dances like popping

(the one I teach and do). You either had to learn it from a friend that knew it or get VHS

tapes which were hard to get. Now with Youtube, anyone, anywhere in the world can

learn previously ‘exclusive’ dance styles.”

6

7

8

9

10

conclusion

21st Century Readers/Writers Must ...• Develop proficiency with the tools of technology.

• Build relationships with others to pose & solve problems collaboratively and cross culturally.

• Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes.

• Manage, analyze, & synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information.

• Create, critique, an analyze multimedia texts.

• Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments.

NCTE Framework for 21st Century Curriulum & Assessment (2007)

Lead Learner

Private Public

Closed Open

Thinning Walls

Network Sherpa

http://couros.cacouros@gmail.com

@courosa

Don’t limit a child to your own learning, for he was born

in another time. ~Tagore