Digital competence, civics, and the common core

Vicki Phillips of the Gates Foundation wrote in October that:

The explosion of media and technology has added remarkable opportunities for gaining and sharing knowledge, but it also has made it all the more important that students master the core skills of gathering and evaluating evidence. Reading and writing with independence and confidence will remain master arts in the information age.

As I blogged the research skills built in to the new draft of the common core standards for writing, that comment kept going through my head.

The current technological revolution raises the bar for citizenship: with vast information at our fingertips, our new struggle will be to evaluate and use that information well.

In response, the draft standards raise the bar for students, and call on schools to equip students for exactly that type of work. It's time to push forward on developing those "master arts" at a high level for every student.