Shouldn't they have learned that in elementary school?

In response to a recent blog post on media literacy, a faithful reader commented:

I have come to see that digital literacy has become a skill that many educators assume students have once they get into high school, and that there is really no additional requirements of students to prove they have those skills.

This comment made me wonder about how many skills we were supposed to "master" in elementary school or high school or college, but spend a lifetime actually learning. I would certainly put digital literacy and critical thinking at the top of the list.

During this strange election season, I have become increasingly aware of my own deficiencies in evaluating the validity of "the news" coming to terms with the reality that facts may not always have, as Stephen Colbert puts it, a liberal bias.

I expect practicing my crap detection skills will need to be life-long, not one course and you're done sort of a deal.

What are the other skills one needs to practice, sharpen, grow, and revise throughout one's life? I find myself needing to continue learning:

• how to use mathematics, especially the ability to make accurate meaning from data
• how to write both informatively and persuasively
• how to work with other people using the skills of collaboration, persuasion, empathy, empowerment
• about other cultures, their values, beliefs, and realities
• how history has shaped today
• and of course, new technologies (although I still miss my Apple IIe)

Do we as educators too often assume that students have mastered certain skills when indeed such skills can never be truly mastered? And what is on your "never truly mastered" list?

Comments

[Robert Schuetz]

Hello Doug,
I like your list. My modification would be change writing to communicating. As much as I have grown to enjoy reading and writing, I see podcasting and vodcasting becoming the next "things" on my learning plate. I would also include bodily-kinesthetic training in the list. With wearables and increased data about our physical conditions, our opportunities to develop healthy minds and bodies will continue to grow.
Bob

[Debra Gottsleben]

Excellent post! Totally agree and would add that the additions from Bob are spot on!

[Floyd Pentlin]

LOL - Apple IIe -- they were wonderful, weren't they!

[Andre Tanguay]

Thank you. I have been saying for the last 16 years (as long as I have been teaching) that administrators, researchers, and educators have been mistakenly attributing students comfort and facility with technology to a deeper understanding and improved learning. Wrong. Students love technology in the classroom. The problem is that they don't view it as a tool for learning but rather they approach it with a game mentality. They like to be spoon fed information because they don't have to think much. Very bad. At the end of the day, as far as I can tell, they didn't learn what I wanted them to learn. Technology has its place in the classroom. But, I think it must be applied sparingly and carefully.

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Robert,

Yup - communicating is the better term. I am afraid that writing has always been my go-to method of communicating but for today's world, being able to get your point across visually is more important. Great comment.

Thanks,

Doug​

Hi Andre,

Unguided, I would would certainly agree with your assessment of how students use technology in the classroom. I can be a distraction. I have seen teachers, however, used that love of gaming you speak of to motivate and engage learners as well.

Thanks for the comment,

Doug​

[Kenn Gorman]

Amen and amen! Once again you have spoken the exact truth. How many versions of Windows / Mac have we seen and used in the last six years? How many versions of the iPhone have there been? How long has SnapChat been around, and what will replace it?

I continue to hope that four years of technology and/or computer science will be just as important as four years of math, science, English, history, language, etc.