Topic: Education (Exercise)

This exercise is prepared by the Leaf Academy. It is part of the Spectator College programme and it is linked to the articles: Bachelor degree undervalued and Park in Digital Garage.

CONTENT
EXERCISE 1: Bachelor degree undervalued
EXERCISE 2:Park in Digital Garage
Recommended Usage and Format for exercises

EXERCISE 1 linked to the article: Bachelor degree undervalued

Lesson Objectives

• Read text and demonstrate understanding (comprehension, analysis, connection, and transfer)

• Analyze position

• Respond to argument and work with evidence

1. Read article (10 minutes)

• Underline any words you do not recognize or understand.

1. Understanding: (5 minutes)

• Have each student share word(s) they don’t know and define them.

1. Summarize/Monitor Understanding/Research (10 minutes)

• Explain the key reasons that the bachelor’s degree is considered an “unfinished education” in Slovakia.

1. Focused Free Write: (5 minutes writing, 5-minute discussion)

• Prompt: For many jobs, employers are requiring more education than necessary to do the job and employees are overqualified from an educational point of view. (For perspective, neither Bill Gates, former CEO of Microsoft, or Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple, even have a bachelor’s degree.) Agree or disagree with this statement and support it with evidence from the article.

1. Discussion (5 minutes)

• Find similarities and differences in student views on the necessity of education beyond the bachelor’s degree.

EXERCISE 2 linked to the article: Park in Digital Garage

Lesson Objectives

• Read text and demonstrate understanding (comprehension, analysis, connection, and transfer)

• Analyze position

• Respond to argument and work with evidence

1. Read article (5 minutes)

2. Underline any words you do not recognize or understand.

3. Understanding: (5 minutes)

4. Have each student share word(s) they don’t know and define them.

1. Summarize/Monitor Understanding (10 minutes)

2. Why is Google’s online education platform called the Digital Garage?

3. What are the areas of study that the Digital Garage offers for study in Slovakia?

1. Focused Free Write: (5 minutes writing, 5-minute discussion)

2. Prompt: In 2017 and beyond it is essential to be digitally competent or literate regardless of your field of study or occupation. Agree or disagree with this statement and then support your position with evidence from the article and from your own experiences.

1. Discussion (10 minutes)

2. Find similarities and differences in student views on the level of digital literacy required to be successful in today’s world.

Recommended Usage and Format for exercises

We believe a discussion-based format is best for achieving the learning objectives. We also believe that using the technique Writing as Thinking helps students to formulate their ideas and practice their writing in advance of the discussion. The degree of facilitator and adult involvement will vary according to student background and secondary objectives.

Writing

Model by being willing to write along with students and also to share your writing with the class.

Let them know before writing if they will be asked to share their writing out loud.

Here writing is first thoughts, so poor spelling, punctuation or conventions are not the focus.

Focus on engaging with ideas.

They do not need to apologize for the quality of their writing.

Discussion

Set expectations for active listening and body language

Engage introverts and extroverts, be mindful of dominant voices

Be mindful of how much you are speaking

Manage time

Encourage students to respond directly to each other, and not through the facilitator, using evidence- I agree with Igor’s point because…

Encourage everyone to draw from evidence in the text to support their points, avoid generalizations

Can you point to a line in the text…

Can you help me to understand…

Could you give an example…

Use techniques to encourage other voices

Let’s hear some other thoughts…

Let’s hear from someone who hasn’t contributed yet...

Techniques for managing time/discussion

Put this in the parking lot and move on…

Let’s pause here…

Parts of the lesson

Focused Free Write- an opportunity for students to write freely, but about a specific prompt.

Reflection- an opportunity to think about the lesson, what they have learned and hopefully how it will help them or how it connects to their life

Underlining words- this strategy is a good habit for students and it also allows them more ownership of their vocabulary.

This exercise is prepared by the Leaf Academy and it is part of the Spectator College, a programme created by The Slovak Spectator.