Fall Forum 2010
In Focus: The Essentials for 21st-Century Learning
November 5-6, 2010
Portland, Oregon
In this dynamic age, students have unprecedented access to diverse, independent and immediate information resources. This may be the first time in history our students are as familiar with modern research tools as we are, but they still lack the essential skills necessary to responsibly and effectively navigate the educational environment.
In Focus: The Essentials for 21st-Century Learning is designed to aid school librarians in focusing learning on the essentials, as students distill and isolate information, think and re-think the world inside and outside their classrooms.
Using the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner and Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Program Development, attendees will connect school library programs to current educational concepts now at the core of curriculum, and leave with new insight to encourage, elevate and evaluate information literacy in their programs.
Essential Skills
Program I: Essential Questions with Gail Dickinson
What is an essential question? How do we direct student inquiry to encourage critical thinking and evaluation? In this course you will define and essential question, and learn how to formulate and use essential questions to incorporate the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner into your instruction.
Program II: Enduring Understanding with Leslie Maniotes
How do we encourage students to learn beyond the test, to understand that gathering facts does not increase understanding? Learning is enhanced by opportunities to share and interpret information with others. This course is designed to help you form methods for prioritizing content while integrating collaborative learning exercises based on what you want students to remember years later.
Program III: Evidence-based Practice with Ross Todd
By focusing on evidence-based practice, you can demonstrate how your school library program contributes to the school as a thinking and learning community. Learn to weld together research, experience, insights and systematic measures in your everyday practice. Identify aspects of your program that can be assessed and techniques for collecting evidence in order to formulate an assessment.
