Teaching approaches to address 21st century learners

1. Rethinking Education
in the Digital Age
Lomas High School
September 2014
Mariana Ferrarelli
http://www.slideshare.net/marianaferrarelli

2. General Context I
• Information Anxiety (Hurst, 2007)
• Infoxication (Cornella, 2000)
• Education 3.0 (Moravec, 2009)
• Ubiquity (Wesch)

3. General Context II
• Web 2.0
• Digitalization & New Media
• New Textual Species:
– Transmedia Storytelling
– E-Lit
– Microblogging: Vine, Twitter, FB, Instagram
– Twitterature
– Vlogging

4. General Context III
Children can inquire, interact, shop, ridicule,
discuss, play, share thoughts.
NEW COGNITIVE SKILLS & DISPOSITIONS
TRADITIONAL LITERACY – NOT ENOUGH

5. CULTURE
DIGITAL
THINKING LEARNERS

6. New Skills
• Self-direction
• Efficiency in the administration &
organization of information
• Ability to connect apparently dispersed
information
• Problem-solving
• Collaboration

7. Teaching Approach
• Deep Learners
• From content mastery to learning mastery
(Richardson, 2012)
• Teaching how to learn
• Diversity

8. Paths
1. rEDUvolution – María Acaso
2. Aulas Heterogéneas – Rebeca Anijovich
3. Visible Thinking – Project Zero
Adopt Adapt

9. 1. rEDUvolution – María Acaso

10. 2. Aulas Heterogéneas – R. Anijovich
• Diversity & Difference
• Metacognition
• Autonomy
• Choice

11. 3. Visible Thinking
When thinking becomes visible in
the classroom students develop
thinking dispositions which in
turn allow for
thoughtful and deep learning.
pzweb.harvard.edu/vt/VisibleThinking

12. Visible Thinking - Elements
THINKING IDEALS
DOCUMENTATION
ROUTINES

13. Visible Thinking - Ideals
UNDERSTANDING
FAIRNESS
TRUTH
CREATIVITY
They constitute the aims at which thinking
is oriented.
They can be used to assess students’
progress.

14. Visible Thinking - Documentation
When thinking is visible it can be recorded in
different ways:
- Mind maps
- Charts
- Lists
- Videos of classroom work
- Diagrams
- Students’ reflections in a journal or logbook

15. Visible Thinking - Routines
Routines can be used at any level / age /
subject area
From an epistemological point of view
routines consist of a few steps which
demand a series of cognitive behaviours
as students are asked to…

16. Cognitive Behaviours
∞ Think critically
∞ Provide evidence
∞ Justify with explanations
∞ Compare & connect
∞ Summarise
∞ Explore multiple perspectives
∞ Identify parts in a whole
∞ Draw conclusions
∞ Hypothesize
∞ Reflect on their own learning process

17. The Biltmore School
School:
Founded in 1926
150 students & 30
teachers
Annual tuition & fees:
USD 10,000
Headmistress:
Gina Romero

19. What makes you say that?
1. What's going on?
2. What do you see that makes you say
that?
This routine helps students describe what they
see or know and asks them to build
explanations. It calls for evidence and helps
learners learn how to justify their claims.

20. Headlines
If you were to write a headline for this topic or
issue right now that captured the most
important aspect that should be remembered,
what would that headline be?
This routine helps students think of a
summary or synopsis of the topic discussed. It
works especially well at the end of a class
discussion or session in which students have
explored a topic and gathered a fair amount of
new information or opinions about it.

21. Mark Church introducing the HEADLINES routine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMginVgsYPs

22. See – Think - Wonder
• What do you see?
• What do you think about that?
• What does it make you wonder?
This routine encourages students to make
careful observations and thoughtful
interpretations. It helps stimulate
curiosity and sets the stage for inquiry.

24. Looking 10x2
1. Look at the image or artifact for at least
30 seconds. Let your eyes wander.
2. List ten words or phrases about it
(3. Share your thoughts with your partner)
4. Repeat steps 1 & 2
This routine helps students explore a new topic
and compare different perspectives.

28. Learning in the Digital Age - Active
• Learning is doing, not just absorbing
information passively
• Learning is an active process in which
learners construct new knowledge by
building on ideas they already have

29. Learning in the Digital Age -
Engagement
• Learning means getting personally involved
• Questions are means and ends: routines are
based on questions to create debates, look
for connections and expand knowledge
• Learning is an enquiry-oriented process

30. Learning in the Digital Age -
Metacognition
• Visible Thinking allows for metacognition
• When the thinking process becomes
explicit it can be analyzed, assessed and
finally improved

31. Bibliography
ACASO, María, rEDUvolution. Barcelona, Paidos, 2013.
ANIJOVICH, Rebeca, MALBERGIER, Mirta y SIGAL, Celia, Una introducción a la
enseñanza para la diversidad, Buenos Aires, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2012.
"Making Thinking Visible" Ron Ritchhart and David Perkins. "Making Thinking
Visible," Educational Leadership 65, no. 5 (February 2008): 57-61.
"Uncovering Students' Thinking about Thinking Using Concept Maps"- a paper
prepared for the AERA Conference, March 2008.
Cultivating a Culture of Thinking in Museums Ron Ritchhart, “Cultivating a Culture
of Thinking in Museums,” Journal of Museum Education 32, no. 2 (Summer 2007):
137-54.
Life in the Mindful Classroom: Nurturing the Disposition of Mindfulness Ron
Ritchhart and David N. Perkins, “Life in the Mindful Classroom: Nurturing the
Disposition of Mindfulness,” Journal of Social Issues 56, no. 1 (2000), 27–47.
Making Thinking Visible David N. Perkins, “Making Thinking Visible,” (2003)
Visible Thinking Shari Tishman and Patricia Palmer, “Visible Thinking,” Leadership
Compass 2, no. 4 (Summer 2005).
The Thinking Classroom, Shari TIshman, David Perkins & Eileen Jay. Allyn &
Bacon, 1994.
Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and
Independence for All Learners, Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church & Karin Morrison,
Jossey-Bass, 2011.
Richardson, W. (2012) Why School? TED Books. Kindle Version.
Moravec, J. (2013) Knowmad Society, Minneapolis, Education Futures, Available at:
http://www.knowmadsociety.com/download/KnowmadSociety.pdf

32. mariana.ferrarelli@gmail.com
@FerrarelliM
http://uba.academia.edu/MarianaFerrarelli
http://www.slideshare.net/marianaferrarelli