21st Century Skills

Educational hot topics are never in short demand. The remedies to these schooling shortfalls aren't in small supply either. Whether it is "learning focused," or "collaborative," or even "FINISH" educational leaders tend to have a vast array of new terms for seemingly timeless educational practices. While this is the case so often, the problem of addressing the new, and quickly widening, divide between what students are taught in school and what businesses need tomorrows workforce to posses is unique. What are school systems and educators doing to address the problem? Largely, the answer to that question is simply "nothing". The lack of thought does not necessarily reflect a larger lapse of judgment or desire to thoroughly prepare students, though, and to help schools get on board with what is necessary in the education of 21st Century skill sets, educators can begin by using the information and direction available at the website "Partnership for 21st Century Skills" to hone their own educational arsenal with the tools necessary to include a "21st Century" skill set into the curriculum.

On reviewing the sight, I find that it was personally shocking that the need for such educational technology reform was so necessary, yet so under-acknowledged. Many teachers are not aware of such a need for technical training, yet here is a professional, in depth website dedicated solely to the need for such education.

The site breaks down what the "21st Century" skills necessary are into four smaller, key elements; Life and Career Skills, Learning and Innovation Skills, Information, Media, and Technology Skills, and Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes. These are called the Route 21 Skills. On the face, these skills seem to mirror the basic educational framework with skills such as "Thinking Creatively", "Critical Thinking and Problem Solving", and "Collaboration". The difference with the Route 21 Skills is that each skill is supported in a technological way that does not hinder the natural flow of the school curriculum.

Great! Now what? Before anyone gets too worked up over how to change their lessons in order to better prepare tomorrow's future, lets not forget a basic principle of teaching- there is no need to reinvent the wheel! Another great feature of the 21st Century Skills website is that there are nearly 600 shared technology lessons available to help teachers support 21st century needs.

Can anything be this simple and agreeable? Sadly, no. While the Partnership For 21st Century Skills website is highly accessible and jam-packed with resources, there are some sticking points that some educators might face. I personally disagree with one of the facets of PF21stCS's Route 21 framework stating within the Learning and Innovation Skills that a student creativity determines whether or not that student is prepared for the future. We all as educators would agree that creativity is a viable and necessary function for all students, but for PF21stCS to base a students success solely on creativity seems to be slightly out of place. Don't let the small differences dissuade you, though, from utilizing this valuable web resource!

While we may feel obstinate to act in the in the light of necessary change, but as educators it is our job to prepare students for the future. For today's teachers and students the necessary change that must be made in order for our 21st century workplace to be highly competitive in the global economy is a change to a technologically minded student that can think, comprehend, assess, synthesize, and process the technological landscape of tomorrow's workplace.

Bloggin' in the Classroom

I think that I could use the blog in my classroom as an introduction tool to teach students how to effectively use a blog as an educational tool. I teach 8th grade students Georgia history. I would probably set up a simple opinion blog, as per example of Ms. Kathy Martin, to the ends that students voice their opinions and reactions to historical situations and prompts. This would help, not only in the prep for their technological futures, to motivate students who typically did not enjoy the more traditional school setting , give voice to students who don't always feel comfortable speaking out in class, teach correct grammar and usage of language (especially with our ELL learners!), and connect students more closely with the subject matter and open their eyes to the thoughts of their classmates. As a teacher, it would give me instant access to students thoughts and ideas, and help me to assess how well each student understands the curriculum.

Technology: Runaway Train or Trainable Tiger

Students today have a completely different worldview than students of ten years ago. Today's students are highly in tune with the newest, latest, and greatest gadgets, gizmos and whatnot's. As a teacher, how many times have you found yourself asking one of your students for technical help on basic computing and internet savvy?

Because students are so much more well versed than their teacher counterparts, how can we utilize the vast potential in our ever changing technologies to stimulate and educate our students? A better question for many teachers might be if can we catch up to today's youth in technology. As a teacher, is the world of technology a runaway train, or a trainable tiger?