As I navigated throught the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website, my first reaction was "Oh my gosh! What does all of this mean?" But then as I perused a little more, I found that this site was inundated with resources that provide educators the opportunity to introduce the elements of 21st century learning. If I am honest, I am not surprised that my state of Georgia was not one of the states who are taking the 21st Century Skills initiative. It is evident in the shortage of technology in most of our classrooms. In order for Georgia to become a P21 Leadership state it would take a commitment from our governor, Sonny Perdue and chief state school officers showing that our state plans to revise standards, create assessments, and implement 21st century skills professional development programs. I would like to encourage Governor Perdue to consider this possibility.
I found the site to be user-friendly, however being a lower elementary teacher I didn't find very many resources for introducing younger students to 21st century skills.
As I read over the six elements of 21st century learning, the first two - a) emphasize core subjects, and b) emphasize learning skills- are elements that have been around probably since the dawn of teaching. But, as I began contemplating the other four, I realized that we are far, far behind where we should be.
The third element of 21st century learning is "use 21st century tools to develop learning". Most of the teachers at my school do not even know how to use the tools themselves, so the students are definitely not being connected to this element.The fourth element is "teach and learn in 21st century context". This means that we must teach our students through real-world examples and include them in interaction outside of the four walls of our classrooms. We must get them involved with skills such as blogging, wikis, and podcasting if we are to effectively prepare them with 21st century skills.
The fifth element is "teach and learn 21st century content". Of all the elements, I'm afraid this is the one that we are farthest from achieving. According to this article, the ideologies of 21st century content is global awareness; financial, economic, and business literacy; and civic literacy. These are not topics that are of utmost importance in most schools across America. It is essential that we find a way to integrate these concepts into our curriculum if our students are going to be equipped for the life that faces them as adults.
The final element is "use 21st century assessments that measure 21st century skills". Okay, maybe THIS is the one we are farthest from. It is imperative that students' assessments should measure their knowledge of the elements of a 21st century education. This is FAR from the case at my school. I imagine a day in the far future where there will be no more "bubble tests". Why not assess students by allowing them to communicate their knowledge with technology?
The implications for my students and I as I read about the initiative of states other than my own to implement programs such as the 21st Century Learning are that my students are going to be far behind and less tech saavy when they become adults. Granted, they interact with technology in their personal lives everyday, but it is my responsibility as a teacher to teach them to interact in a responsible and educated way. Georgia's reluctance to embrace the importance of preparing our students for the 21st century causes me great concern.
www.21stcenturyskills.org/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
+-+Copy.JPG)
+-+Copy.JPG)
3 comments:
"21st Century Learning for All"
Barbara Kington
I too can say as you have said, the site is interesting. Based on the requirements to access the site we have to think of hands on instructions.
It seems that we will have to search and find ways and means to introdce our students and make them prepared tp meet and compete and function in the 21st century.
Things do get discouraging at times when there is no support from the educational system that is supose to be making the big plans and implementing them for our students.
I say to you take heart and continue to do what you can to the best of your ability and for the advancement of your students. The grass may seem greener on the other side but there are may ways to reach the stars.
I really like how you took apart the different elements and put them into real life situations.
We really do have a lot of work in order to prepare our students for what they will be doing when they get out of school. But with limited resources and funds how are we going to really ever get there?
With what we do have we need to start taking initiatives and implementing the skills that we can, every little bit will count.
I believe that no matter what, we can teach our students most of the skills that they need regardless of what we have or don't have. As educators we need to be creative and find ways to teach our students what they need to know.
Kate Jorgensen
www.21stcenturyskills.org/
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Skills for the 21st Century [Motion
picture]. Baltimore: Author.
I agree that we are far far behind from where we should be. How are we suppose to use" home grown talent," when some of us do not even have the resources to do so. I agree that we do not have a lot of teachers that know enough about the 21st century technology, therefore they do not utilize it. There needs to be more of an awareness raised. Schools need to provide professional development opportunities for teachers, so they can keep up with this world.
Yes, there are many students that know more about technology than we do. This is exactly why we need to enforce using it in the classroom, so we can keep them on track.
Goodluck in incorporating technology into your classroom!
Post a Comment