IT648

Well, the summer has officially begun. I'm scrambling a bit to catch up in my classes, because I was out of town at the RCU curriculum meeting focusing on UbD and DoK, co-hosted by MSU and MDE (how's that for alphabet soup?).

Long story short, I'm excited about the approach that MDE is taking. For too long the state tests have focused on memorized information (Webb's Depth of Knowledge 1), and so, in order for their students to pass the tests, the teachers in these areas had to focus their teaching on a broad, but shallow level. I hated doing that when I taught US History, but you do what you have to do.

Now, they're rewriting the tests AND providing teachers with more tools (Understanding by Design is the name of the framework they're using) to teach more in-depth understanding.

I'm sure that IT 648 will be informative and educational, and I'm looking forward to the class!