Week 2 Blog Assignment

 

Part 1:

            Authentic Intellectual Work helps students to think outside of the box, have a higher level of thinking, and better understanding of the world around them. Authentic Intellectual Work in nature prepares students to not only learn the importance of knowledge, but also prepares students on how to use that knowledge in their world. Authentic Intellectual Work differs from traditional approaches to instruction and assessment by allowing students to focus on how to use the materials and knowledge rather than to prove they have the knowledge but lack the reasoning to see the importance of how to use it. Often students do not see the value of instruction other than to take an assessment for a passing grade.

            One component of AIW is Standard 2: Deeper Knowledge. It is one thing to know the information, but another to truly understand it in all areas. Standard 2 states “Knowledge is deep when, instead of trying to learn or expressing only fragmented pieces of information, students encounter and express details, distinctions, nuances, and different applications of central concepts aimed toward integrated or holistic understandings. Knowledge is superficial or thin when it does not deal with significant concepts or central ideas of a topic or discipline or when important, central ideas have been trivialized, presented only superficially or non-problematic.” (Newmann, 2007, pg. 37).

            As an early childhood educator, one of the most important lessons that I teach my students is social emotional learning. As discussed, it is one thing to teach students how to treat each other, but authentic intellectual work enhances that knowledge. An example of this would be to read aloud a story to students such as Have You Filled a Bucket Today? By Carol McCloud. The story teaches children the concepts of being kind and considerate to others, as well as that is looks like to take away those good feelings from others. An example of AIW for this content would be for students to demonstrate their knowledge through creating a video response to how they filled someone’s bucket that week. Students could document the event with pictures and evidence of how they shared kindness with others to display in a slideshow to the class.

Part 2:

            The National Education Technology Plan Update frames three key divides, one of which is Digital Use Divide. Digital Use Divide addresses opportunities for students to use technology to enhance their learning, including dynamic applications of technology to explore, create, and engage in critical analysis of academic knowledge (OFT, 2024). As mentioned in the lesson above, students can use technology integration with the use of tablets to create digital stories of how they used their social emotion knowledge and placed it into action to spread kindness. Students can create a slideshow of how they can continue to spread kindness as well as creating future goals.

Part 3:

            The connection between the AIW framework and Kolb’s Triple Es is that the instruction goes beyond the initial instruction and encourages students into the higher level of thinking that is created with AIW. Students must initiate engagement through discussion of how they have filled or taken from someone’s bucket. The lesson is then enhanced by students self-evaluating their actions and finding ways to share their experiences with others. Lastly, an extension is made by students creating the digital story with tablets that can be shared with others as well as using technology to create goals to extend their knowledge beyond the classroom to others.

 

 

 

References

Newmann, F. M., King, M. B., & Carmichael, D. L. (2007).  Authentic instruction and assessment: Common standards for rigor and relevance in teaching academic subjects.  State of Iowa Department of Education. Introduction, Chapters. 1 & 2 (30 pages). Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T9JNAZgLfKvXAX7JoaOJElkkZS5Xf-lp/view?usp=drivesdk Links to an external site.

 

Office of Educational Technology. (2024). A Call to Action to Close the Technology Access, Design, and Use Divides: National Educational Technology Plan. Department of Education. Retrieved from: https://tech.ed.gov/netp/ Links to an external site.

 

Office of Educational Technology. (2021). Early Learning and Educational Technology Policy Brief. Retrieved from https://tech.ed.gov/earlylearning/ Links to an external site.. For students working with early childhood students (25 pages).