Session+1

Essential Questions for this session:
 * What is Authentic Assessment?
 * Why do we use technology in the classroom?

Activity 1: In groups, read one of the articles listed below and discuss the key concepts.
 * 1) Rigor Redefined
 * 2) K12 Horizon Report 2010
 * 3) Curriculum-Based Reform: An Eye on the Future
 * 4) 21st Century Assessment
 * 5) Partnership for 21st Century Skills: Education and Competitiveness
 * 6) Importance of Collaborative Assessment in a 21st Century Classroom
 * 7) 21st Century Fluencies
 * 8) __Beyond Technology__
 * 9) NAIS Guide to Becoming a School of the Future
 * 10) Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Learning for the Future (intro: Start with Big Concepts; Follow with Facts)
 * 11) 20:20 Forecast (and .pdf overview)
 * 12) __Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age__
 * 13) [|World Without Walls: Learning Well With Others]
 * 14) [|ISTE Unveils New Standards for Teachers]
 * 15) The Future of Reading and Writing is Collaborative
 * 16) [|Orchestrating the Media Collage, J.Ohler.pdf]

Activity 2: Watch and explore these examples of networked learning and discuss:
 * How is this different from the learning that may be happening in our schools?
 * What skills/understandings are these learners developing in this context? How do these skills apply to the articles you read?

A. Authors B. Designers C. Architects D. Athletes E. Technical Writers

Activity 3: In your groups, develop a definition for Authentic Assessment and present it in:
 * Twitter-style: 140 characters or less! Share your statement in the discussion tab
 * Visualized: a collaborative image that represents your definition. Take a picture and upload to Flickr for embedding here.

Discussion Notes:
 * Teachers are locked in due to curriculum/standardized testing/universities
 * not enough creativity
 * lack of freedom
 * passion
 * community of learners
 * authentic - know they're successful themselves
 * intrinsically motivated
 * structures of school hinder these opportunities (tests, grading, etc)
 * self-educating
 * sets it's own rules
 * self-editing
 * authors
 * self-creating environment
 * based on stage not age
 * formative self-assessment through playing
 * summative self-assessment through loosing
 * generic skills are what we should be assessing, common themes (what are they?)
 * collaboration
 * free
 * genuine
 * recording the real world
 * world is changing
 * real impetus & legacy
 * assessment level through external source (google sketch up)
 * imagination
 * creativity