New Directions for Learning

This week I found two articles from my learning network on twitter that peaked my interest about how technology is changing the way our students learn.

The first article I found is “6 Way Twitter Has Made Me a Better Writer” (http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/newsgathering-storytelling/140751/6-ways-twitter-has-made-me-a-better-writer/). In this article, Ms. Tenore explains that Twitter has helped her write more succinctly: by limiting her character, she needed to choose her words and message carefully. Twitter gave her confidence in her writing because it provided her with a forum for her voice. These are important points in working with students on their writing. So often students get very wordy in their explanations and have difficulty expressing their ideas in a very brief way. Twitter can help provide a forum for their ideas and writing, which also gives them a purpose for writing, and can help them to choose their words and express their ideas carefully.

The second article is from Langwitches and talks about the “new” version of KWL: WKHL (http://langwitches.org/blog/2011/07/21/upgrade-your-kwl-chart-to-the-21st-century/). In this article, she discusses how the “H” stands for “how do we find the answers to our questions?” She also suggests that the acronym activity could go further: KWHLAQ. In this one, the “A” stands for “what action will I take?” and “Q” stands for “what new questions do I have?” The “H” points out that knowing where and how to find information is an essential skill to students today. The “A” asks students to apply what they have learned to what they already know which is important in building literacy skills and content-knowledge. The “Q” encourages further inquiry that is a crucial skill in a social studies classroom like my own. I can see using KWHLAQ to help my students with their literacy skills, but also to help them build skills like application and inquiry that are very important to social studies.