Discussion+Questions

These are potential discussion questions for the faculty meeting on September 15, 2008.

Do you agree with the video's claim that our students are predominantly digital learners? What does this mean for Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences?

Some statistics from 2003 or 2004 //Today’s children and teens spend 2.75 hours a week using home computers// (Institute for Social Research, 2004) 70% of our nation’s 4 to 6 year olds have used a computer. (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2003)

Do you think these numbers are accurate now? Not sure how this question will generate meaty discussion?

Are 2 year olds spending 2 hours a day with screen media due to “richness?” //(Where "richness" refers to the richness of content in the media, not the wealth of the consumer!) // Have you thought about Bloom’s Taxonomy in relationship to your curriculum? //Consider this alternate statement of this question//: i) Does your curriculum adequately engage and assess students at all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation? ii) Where does "Creating" fit into this hierarchy? What do students create in your curriculum? Is it important to be flexible in defining create?

Can you imagine an environment where a student only asks a question every 10 hours?

What did you think about the cell phone example?

39% of students think that school work will have bearing on their success in life. Are they right? How do you think this 39% define “success”?   D//o we need to look at how we define success too? Will this help us understand why we push our students in the directions we do?//

Is not succeeding in school a reason for failure later in life, or are they both symptoms of something else? What is that something else?

Have you listened to a podcast? Which ones do you like?

What else does this make you think about?

How do we take into account the changes in time spent with technology while also considering other aspects of 21st century learning? //I think this is a great question ... I think we need to think about aspects outside of technology as well ...//

How do we catch up so we know how to teach in this digital age? //This is also critical - especially for those teachers who find themselves feeling completely on the outside of the technological boom that has happened and will continue to happen!//