A review of http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/
Feeling like you need a boost for the next school year?
21st century skills can provide that for you! Visit their website and you will be energized and revived to want to incorporate technology into your classroom. Our children’s educational needs are changing just as their experiences and prior knowledge are before they even enter school. With technology access and experience at the forefront, 96% of students are accessing online networking sites daily (Miners and Pascopella, 2007). Typical lecture style dissemination of material is not working for our youth any more and it is certainly not preparing them for a world that requires very specifics skills. According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills these skills are: (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=188&Itemid=110)
Information and communication skills (information and media literacy skills;
communication skills)
Thinking and problem-solving (critical thinking and
systems thinking; problem identification, formulation and solution; creativity
and intellectual curiosity)
Interpersonal and self-direction skills
(interpersonal and collaborative skills; self-direction; accountability and
adaptability; social responsibility)
Global awareness
Financial,
economic and business literacy, and developing entrepreneurial skills to enhance
workplace productivity and career options
Civic literacy
These skills have been echoed by many other resources and are proving to be necessary for our children to meet the challenge globally as our world “flattens” (Freidman, 2005) Throughout this website you will be given a number of links to resources to help you in your classroom and to help with professional development ideas.
The surprising thing about this site is that most of the partners are not educators but rather global leaders in industry. I was impressed to see executives from Dell, Intel, Lego, Sesame Street Workshop even speaking about the requirements and needs of the 21st century worker. Education must respond!!!
As I looked at one video and saw the states involved, I was a bit ashamed that South Carolina was not listed although some of our neighboring states were receiving awards from the organization. South Carolina must begin to step forward and look at these traits and skills listed above and incorporate these skills and the advice of professionals like Dr. Thornberg from the Thornberg Center. Our students need to be trying to compete in a global world and they are not receiving that preparation in our schools.
So if you need a boost and are ready to make a difference in your school and community take a look at the website for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Perhaps you can join them in their mission to:
“Serve as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of US K-12
education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business,
community and government leaders.”
(http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=188&Itemid=110)
Personally I plan to familiarize myself with the organizations Framework for 21st
Century Learning, ( http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/)
which describes the skills, knowledge and expertise students must master to succeed in work and life. I invite you to take a look by clicking on this link and looking over the material! Students need to be held to high expectations with technology being a major part of their curriculum. Teachers and students need to be embracing the technology around them and finding ways to use it in the classroom. As educators this world is new for many but to the children they have a different view and can be invaluable resources. To educators I ask that you open your minds and listen to the children share their ideas and their experiences. It is through this method that we all will reep the benefits of teaching and learning!
Please let me know what you think after looking at the framework and share any ideas you might have! Good luck and enjoy!
Thank you for taking the time to make our students one step closer to children of the 21st century!
resources:
Friedman, T. (2005, April 3). It's a flat world, after all. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/
Miners, Z., & Pascopella, A. (2007). The new literacies. District Administration, 43(10), 26–34.
Posts
My concern about the need for 21st century skills in education is that teachers are not receiving the training that they need to incorporate the skills into their classroom. Although sites like P21 can be helpful for teachers who are willing to take a step toward incorporating these skills, it is not reaching enough educators. Funding needs to be made available for widespread teacher training. There are few, if any, federal funds available through NCLB, although the law does require technological literacy for all students (Miners & Pascopella, 2007). Without training, the disconnect between education and the 21st century work place will only increase. Teachers today did not grow up with the technology that is available to our students, and many of them remain unaware of it. I do applaud Partnership for 21st Century Skills for working with a few states to rewrite their standards to include 21st century skills, but this change needs to be taking place in every state.
ReplyDeleteMiners, Z., & Pascopella, A. (2007). The new literacies. District Administration, 43(10), 26-34.
The education setting seems to be lagging and the business world is progressing further and embracing the new technology advancements in the world. Unfortunately, this puts our students at a disadvantage as educators are not able to reach those expectations due to the lack of technology in the classroom. Even more, my school does contain many technology tools, however, many of the teachers are unfamiliar with these tools and how to use them effectively. Miners & Pascopella (2007) emphasize this point by stating "few, if any, of the new literacies have found their way into the American classroom. Indeed, many seem to be resisted overtly by deliberate educational policies or covertly by educators who sometimes are not nearly as literate with the Internet as the students they teach." The education system across the United States needs to enforce the use of technology and 21st century skills in all classrooms so that our students are not losing prospective jobs to computers or individuals in foreign countries. "The world is getting "flatter" as a result of a rise in economic and workforce competition from foreign countries, there are signs that the U.S. educational system is not taking the new literacies seriously enough" (Miners & Pascopella, 2007).
ReplyDeleteGaining support from global leaders in the business world is one way to help the educational system reach the goal of providing 21st century skills with the proper technology equipment. Businesses may want to help in the integration of 21st century skills and technology in the classroom since they know that these students will one day be applying and possibly employed in their company. Therefore, they want their prospective employees to contain the skills needed to survive in the workplace while creating a competitive job market for foreign countries. As a result, major business corporations, government leaders, and the educational system need to work together towards the same goal of improving the education for our students while preparing them for their future careers.
References
Miners, Z., & Pascopella, A. (2007). The new literacies. District Administration, 43(10), 26–34.