One of the great educational potentials of technology and distance learning is the awesome avalanche of information and perspectives that comprise the internet. But what to do with all of it? Who has time to sort through it all? Which parts of the information superhighway are going to be on the test? How can we make the web relevant to each learner's college readiness needs and career pathway?
The answer is to embrace it all and struggle with it until you develop the skills to make sense of it (with a teacher's facilitation).
So, that's my intro for sharing several links from this month's Tuesdays with Essential Education webinar (email me at jason@essentialed.com for an invite). In this month's session, the topic was Evaluating Arguments, precisely the skill you need for separating fact from fiction, singling out correct answers, and comparing passages. It's not just a discreet skill for solving one problem worth 12 points on one section of a high school equivalency test.
Evaluating arguments is a transferable skill that is useful across multiple subject/content areas. And it requires interdisciplinary teaching. Focusing on transferable skills and interdisciplinary teaching is going to be increasingly important in adult education, especially in light of the Common Core and College and Career Readiness Standards' impact... and the internet can help.
For starters, here are a few links to assist with planning instruction for broadly impactful skills:
