The Divas Get Real: Training Singers for Success in the Canadian Cultural Domains

To the accepted three cornerstones for innovation of undergraduate music major curricula—creativity, diversity, and integration—must be added fourth, professionalization, that is, the establishment of viable professional identities. This article focuses on a subset of Canadian music undergraduate singers, reporting on research into the structure and reality of the eight cultural domains in Canada, and investigating three important themes that emerge from statistics for the training of singers in postsecondary training: the range of work available to music graduates, the portfolio nature of working musicians’ careers, and the increasing significant role of technological fluency in musicians’ careers today.

Technology-Enhanced Exploratory Installations to Support Constructivist Professional Development

The growth in technology tools and their uses continues to grow at an exponential pace. Whether it is for personal or professional use technology is everywhere, and it is ubiquitous. It is changing the way we seek knowledge, interact with information, and process the world around us to construct our learning pathways. Technology has made it simple for us to be consumers of information, but how do we evaluate and synthesize this information to construct meaning and create value? The technology test kitchen is a curated and managed makerspace designed for exploratory installation where novices and experts engage in deep, meaningful, constructive uses of technology for teaching and learning. The goal of the test kitchen is acquisition of “native-expert” use of technology in support of authentic learning, engendering deeper levels of technological fluency within a constructivist professional development experience.

Software Livre na educação: uma experiência em cursos de formação docente / Free software in education: an experience in a teachers’ training courses

RESUMO: O artigo aborda a utilização de um sistema operacional livre e de softwares livres em um curso de formação inicial de docentes. Problematiza-se a necessidade do desenvolvimento de fluência tecnológica digital (habilidades contemporâneas, conceitos fundamentais e capacidades intelectuais) dos futuros professores para aplicação pedagógica dos principais aplicativos educacionais. Parte-se de revisão teórica conceitual, seguida de análise da proposta da disciplina “Software Livre na Educação”, ofertada nos cursos de licenciatura da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. O resultado evidencia a disciplina como formação diferenciada que oportuniza o desenvolvimento de fluência tecnológica digital em tecnologias livres, potencializando a utilização de diferentes softwares para o desenvolvimento de práticas pedagógicas inovadoras.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: softwarelivre; formação de professores; fluência tecnológica digital. ABSTRACT: This paper approaches the use of free operational systems and softwares in a teachers’ training course. We problematize the need of developing digital and technological fluency (contemporary skills, fundamental concepts and intelectual capacities) of future teachers considering the pedagogical application of the main educational applicatives. A conceptual and theoretical review was perfomed, followed by an analysis of the “Free software in Education” course proposal, which is oferred in undergraduate teaching degrees at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. The result evidences the course as a differentiated training, that allows the development of digital and technological fluency in free technologies, boosting the use of different softwares for the development of inovative pedagogical practices.KEYWORDS: free software; training of teachers; digital and technological fluency.

Optimizing K-14 Instruction to Infuse 21st Century Skills

ABSTRACTThis multi-phased study investigates the learning outcomes of courses taught in the K-14 classroom. Specifically, the methods and practices teachers use to develop and encourage 21st Century Skills including critical thinking skills and technological fluency in all subject areas, STEM and non-STEM related, are of great interest. Currently, these skills are in high demand in fields which develop advanced materials and are the backbone of the National Academiesdeveloped Frameworks for K-12 Science Education. Phase I participants in this study included high school and college educators while Phase II of the study will involve K-14 students. In this study, educators were asked to rate their teaching self-efficacy in two primary areas: critical thinking skills and technological fluency. This included questions related to components in their current curriculum as well as methods of assessment [e.g., rubrics]. The instrument created to measure self-efficacy was based on a modified ‘Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument' (STEBI). All participants were from Connecticut. Results indicate that both STEM and non-STEM related subject areas offer an equally rich array of opportunities to effectively teach critical thinking and technological fluency at a variety of educational levels. The impact of Professional Development on teacher self-efficacy was of particular importance, especially in K-12 education.

“Come Fly with Us”

Pixie Hollow provides a series of useful, accessible examples for discussing gender, the mechanics of community building, and the interconnections between technological fluency and community norms. This game also provides an opportunity to talk about literacy as a fundamentally social act. Also, the overall assignment and its emphasis on journaling as a research tool meant to encourage critical self-reflexivity helps students grasp concepts central to the course as a whole, including race, class, and gender.