Teaching the iGeneration: Five Easy Ways to Introduce Essential Skills With Web 2.0 Tools [Perfect Paperback]

William M. Ferriter (Author), Adam Garry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 16, 2010

You know what the iGeneration in your classroom looks like. They re the students willing to experiment their way through anything, confident that trial and error can crack the code better than reading manuals or following directions. They re turning to the Internet first and the library second when assigned research projects. Their minds are working fast, but not always as deeply or as accurately as the adults in their lives would like. Yet teachers can capture the attention of the iGeneration and help them grow by integrating technology into classrooms in a way that focuses on the skills that have been important for decades. The purpose of Teaching the iGeneration is to help teachers find the natural overlap between the work that they already believe in and the kinds of digital tools that are defining tomorrow s learning. Each chapter introduces an enduring skill information fluency, persuasion, communication, collaboration, and problem solving as well as a digital solution that can be used to enhance, rather than replace, traditional skill-based instructional practices. These solutions include blogs, wikis, content aggregators, asynchronous discussion forums, web conferencing software, video editing applications, and social bookmarking and annotation tools. In addition, Ferriter and Garry end every chapter of Teaching the iGeneration with a collection of handouts and supporting materials tailored to each skill and tool type. Visit go.solution-tree.com/technology for interactive versions complete with live links to additional resources. Reintroducing rigorous and systematic study to the iGeneration a generation that has grown up connected but has failed to understand the power of connections requires nothing more than a teacher who is willing to show students how the tools that they ve already embraced can make learning efficient, empowering, and intellectually satisfying.

Editorial Reviews

Review

William M. Ferriter and Adam Garry have delivered the ultimate guide to change the 20th Century Classroom into 21st Century Classrooms. They deliver a multitude of tools to assist the classroom instructor to become "change agents." They provide tools and resources to prepare students to succeed and to compete in a global economy that demands innovation, critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Everything in this book allows teachers to learn a variety of skills including higher-order thinking, personal abilities, and technology literacy essentials for preparing students for a knowledge-based economy. Howie DiBlasi, technology and educational consultant, Digital Journey, Georgetown, Texas Absolutely Fabulous- amazing! I couldn't put it down! I've read the book twice, and I am still finding new tools to teach 21st Century skills. Excellent!!! --Howie DiBlasi, technology and educational consultant, Digital Journey, Georgetown, Texas

Bill and Adam have set the stage for any teacher to challenge themselves to address the "iGeneration." They focus on pedagogy and deal first with "the why" but don't forget to show "the how." Some will appreciate the background story to the various skills and yet many teachers will find the reproducibles a godsend in helping them make these concepts come to life in their classrooms. --Dean Shareski, digital learning consultant, Prairie South School Division, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

Teaching the iGeneration: Five Easy Ways to Introduce Essential Skills With Web 2.0 Tools is a field book every teacher needs. The authors take complicated topics, break them down, and then give me the tools and reproducible resources I need to bring these ideas to my students. Specifically, I liked the section on digital storytelling. Reading through the chapter, I felt like I had a guide by my side to help me construct a rich digital story using a variety of media. Web 2.0 is a new term to many people and this book not only introduces the reader to the vast resources, it also provides real classroom-tested examples and resources to replicate in other classrooms. This is a must read for all professional educators ready to engage students in authentic learning. --Meg Ormiston, professional development specialist, Tech Teachers, Inc., Burr Ridge, Illinois

About the Author

William M. Ferriter @plugusin on Twitter a sixth-grade language arts and social studies teacher in a PLC near Raleigh, North Carolina. A National Board Certified Teacher, Bill has designed professional development courses for educators nationwide. His trainings include how to use blogs, wikis, and podcasts in the classroom; the role of iTunes in teaching and learning; and the power of digital moviemaking. Bill has also developed schoolwide technology rubrics and surveys that identify student and staff digital proficiency at the building level. He is a founding member and senior fellow of the Teacher Leaders Network and has served as teacher in residence at the Center for Teaching Quality. An advocate for PLCs, improved teacher working conditions, and teacher leadership, Bill has represented educators on Capitol Hill and presented at state and national conferences. He is among the first one hundred teachers in North Carolina and the first one thousand in the United States to earn certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. He has been a Regional Teacher of the Year in North Carolina, and his blog, the Tempered Radical, earned Best Teacher Blog of 2008 from Edublogs. Bill has had articles published in the Journal for Staff Development, Educational Leadership, and Threshold Magazine. A contributing author to two assessment anthologies, The Teacher as Assessment Leader and The Principal as Assessment Leader, he is also coauthor of Building a Professional Learning Community at WorkTM. Adam Garry is a former elementary school teacher. He is currently the manager of Dell s global professional learning organization. He has presented and keynoted at technology conferences around the world, including Alan November s conferences and NECC. He has published many articles on technology integration for several education magazines and authors his own blog. Over the past ten years, he has consulted in school districts across the country on school change, professional development, 21st century skills, technology integration, curriculum and instruction, and leadership. He is also a facilitator for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Professional Development Affiliates program and the International Society for Technology in Education s School 2.0 workshops. Adam received a BA in elementary education, a master s in teaching and learning with a technology emphasis, and a certificate in administration and supervision from Johns Hopkins University.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Solution Tree (July 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935249932
• ISBN-13: 978-1935249931
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #91 in Books > Computers & Technology > Web Development > Web 2.0

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than just a "use these technology tools" book...., August 1, 2010

By 

M. Towns (Cedar Rapids, IA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teaching the iGeneration: Five Easy Ways to Introduce Essential Skills With Web 2.0 Tools (Perfect Paperback)

A blurb from the opening page of chapter two summarizes what I appreciated most about this book...

"While the students of earlier generations felt just as passionately about controversial issues as the students who currently sit in our classrooms...today's teens can use digital tools such as blogs, podcast programs, and video programs to easily join together with thinkers from across continents, gaining a level of influence and awareness equal to (or even greater than) the influence and awareness held by adults. The challenge is that today's students are not automatically prepared to be any more influential than peers from earlier generations. While they may have access to tools that allow them to be heard, being heard is only valuable when the messages shared are worth listening to" (p. 49)

...teaching today's learners involves much more than exposure to new websites and technology tools. Connecting these tools with content-specific pedagogy and scaffolding their use in a structured environment so that students see authentic reasons to collaborate and communicate persuasively. Ferriter and Garry do not pitch a "technocentric" teaching environment, but instead one using the tools appropriately and after building a case for the medium with the reader. The solutions presented in this book come with dozens of free checklists and templates. I highly recommend this book for beginning teachers and those who have been in the profession for years.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for teachers to bring teaching into the 21st century, October 15, 2010

By 

K. Pace (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teaching the iGeneration: Five Easy Ways to Introduce Essential Skills With Web 2.0 Tools (Perfect Paperback)

The reproducible resources in this book are fantastic. Bill and Adam do a great job at breaking down each tool, and explaining them in a way that will really help teachers to understand how to use them in their classrooms. In particular the resources for using blogs and wikis in the classroom taught me many things that I will be sharing with teachers in my school district. Lots of "I had never thought of that" moments as I read about many tools I had heard of and used before! Everything is tied back to the necessary 21st century skills our students need to be developing now before they enter college or the workplace. You will not be disappointed with the information and resources this book provides!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Proven, Practical, and Engaging, September 15, 2010

By 

Patrick Woessner (St. Peters, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teaching the iGeneration: Five Easy Ways to Introduce Essential Skills With Web 2.0 Tools (Perfect Paperback)

"Teaching the iGeneration: 5 Easy Ways to Introduce Essential Skills with Web 2.0 Tools" is among the most useful education books I have read in the last 20 years. Ferriter and Garry have done a masterful job of blending `Best Practice' pedagogy with practical, effective learning activities that speak directly to the challenges and opportunities of educating our multitasking, hyper-connected youth.

Not simply a book about technology, "iGeneration" offers a tempered approach to teaching, learning, and technology that can be applied and adapted across disciplines and grade levels by novice and veteran teachers alike. The book's non-linear, thematic approach allows readers to immediately delve into the issue(s) that resonate most deeply, and the reproducibles, freely available from Solution Tree, are simply invaluable; I've already used several with my students and have recommended many others to my colleagues.

For anyone seeking to better under how technology can be leveraged to truly meet the needs of today's learners, iGeneration is a "must read" that, for a small investment of time, will provide significant and lasting returns in and out of the classroom.