Objectives
The primary objective of the course is to have secondary-level students set goals for the future by showing them how to produce personal learning plans (PLPs) using their intimate knowledge of ‘family’ as a foundation. Through exposure to research on the value of multilingualism and multiliteracies in education, business, and public-sector human services, students will begin to forge their own notions of what it means to learn, teach, and succeed in an age of shifting social contexts, new knowledge economies, and technology-driven instincts. This will be paired with activities that match their learning-styles and introduce them to private digital sites that help determine distinct interests, sort them according to priorities, and ultimately accentuate their passion(s).
For participants to begin to work within the established language-communities of their choosing, they will initially create private content curation portfolios to define words, concepts, and theories related to teaching and contributing within small learning communities. In this phase, the portfolios have three distinct purposes: to a) place learning in the hands of participants, b) create a wellspring for dialogue and writing inspiration, and c) provide a foundation for learning to continue both outside of the classroom and after graduation. Students will learn to adapt to the climate and terrain as it is in their communities while working to generate equity through inventive thinking, careful language employment, creative utilization of available materials, and the wisdom of others.
In terms of the world outside, this course can assist students in envisioning their community-service responsibilities as well as show them how to publish their writing for community, statewide, and global knowledge sharing. Because reading and writing is initially used privately in curation environments that may be published later for the general public, turnitin.com will be used (depending on previous exposure) to show writers how best to cite and paraphrase the thoughts and words of others while composing their own commentaries and editorial viewpoints. Furthermore, depending on the time allotted to do this work, students will receive the personal support and public relations know-how to work in already established programs in their communities that will count as authentic work experience on résumés, and depending on school policy, as public service credit.
Finally, the concept of code-negotiation is an acquired facility with circumstances that require people to move without apprehension between and among conceptually antithetical conditions with relative ease and to value systematic innovation and reciprocity. Code negotiators will begin to recognize that education is a means-to-an-end, but by no means a prescription for their futures. The course designers and facilitators are doctoral level educators with notable experience in the use of blended and connected learning environments at the high school level, and the employment of technology in a systematic and safety-minded manner. The work secondary-level Future Code Negotiators do will strengthen the skills they need to write meaningful college essays, prevail over the rigors of high-stakes tests, and pinpoint the social inequity within their communities that warrant their immediate attention.
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© LISA PURVIN OLINER