CCSS: Strategic Use of Tools to Express Info and Enhance Understanding

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas  

The CCSS (p.22) state that all students must demonstrate that they are able to:

5. Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance   understanding of presentations.   

There’s that word again. This time it’s used as an adjective: strategic.

To be strategic, students work their way up Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy. To make strategic choices, they need to do some analysis of the tools. They have to synthesize what they learn about them, and evaluate them to select the best tool for the job. Then they are ready to create visual displays of data which express information and enhance understanding.

Which tools should your students use? Some students will make this decision based on their own skills and comfort level. They may enjoy being in front of a camera – or behind it (Movie?). They may want nothing to do with a camera, but they communicate very well in writing (Blog? Digital Storytelling?). They may be genius at sharing data with visuals (Spreadsheet and Charts? Slides?). They may want to encourage a conversation about the topic, but they’re a bit shy in class discussions (Wiki? VoiceThread?). They may be budding broadcasters. (Narrated story? Podcast with images?).

On the other hand, as the teacher, you may want them to use a tool that challenges them to communicate in a way that they would not typically choose. You may offer them a set of tools to choose from, depending upon the skill you want them to develop. 

As you can imagine, with all of this choice of assessments, a solid rubric is key. When developing a rubric, the focus needs to be on your content goals and objectives. Typically, your goal is not to assess the student’s technology skills. Instead, you are assessing their content knowledge and their ability to effectively communicate what they know. For this CCSS, communication must include a visual display of data.

There are many rubrics available for the tools mentioned above. Here are a couple to explore and consider how you would modify them.

Digital Storytelling: podcast
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1573253&

 

Digital Storytelling: A “movie trailer” for the elements of fiction
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1857150&