21st Century Skills is another one of those buzz words that seem to be getting thrown around and I wonder how many people using this term have actually given pause to what it means. What are those skills that our children will be needing in the 21st Century? Are they different from the skills we needed to have growing up? The answer to this is yes the children of today do need to learn different skills than we were taught. Their world is vastly different from ours and we cannot teach them using the same strategies and tools. We need to prepare our children for a future that does not exist yet. We need to give them skills to interact in a world that is changing quicker than we can teach. So what are those skills? What should the 21st Century classroom look like?
Today’s children need to be able to:
- Communicate Effectively - So much of today’s world revolves around communication. Texting, e-mailing, and social networking are all forms of communication that our children will need to be able to use in order to be successful.
- Develop, Implement, and Communicate New Ideas - This is a skill that I believe that our children are desperately needing. Many times I see children waiting to have the answers fed to them. They need to be taught how to think for themselves.
- Think Critically - When one uses critical thinking they evaluate or make judgements based on observations, experience and input from others. Thinking critically involves thinking about the evidence, relevance, significance and accuracy of the information. Children need to be taught how to use their brains to make these types of interpretations for themselvses.
- Work Collaboratively – Businesses are finding out that they are more productive when their employees work collaboratively. It is a more efficient use of everyone’s resources and provides opportunities for creative solutions to problems.
- Problem Solve – Higher order thinking process that involves self correction and detailed problem analysis. Students need to learn methods for understanding what the problem is and figuring out ways to solve that problem.
- Application Skills – Students need to know how to apply what they have learned to real world situations. This is where technology really gives you the big bang for your buck! Technology and the increasing number of Web 2.0 applications allow you real world audience, real world opportunities to solve problems, think crictically, work collaboratively, and communicate effectively.
So, ask yourselves are you providing learning opportunities where these skills will be nurtured? Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Working with Environmental Issues
- Problem Solving Plans
- Collaborative Learning Structures
- Grades K – 3 Technology Integrated Lesson Plans
- Virtual Voyager
- Cyber Bee
- Graphing Stratospheric Ozone
I think the most important thing to remember about 21st century skills is that it is not about the technology. It is about good teaching. Technology is the tool that lends itself to teaching these valuable skills, but good teaching is what makes it stick. If teachers are current and planning meaningful, relevant, engaging lessons then our children will learn the skills they need to be successful in the 21st century and beyond.
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April 2nd, 2009 at 11:47 am
I used the Graphing Stratespheric Ozone with my Earth Science class in January. It was a great resource to have actual data for the students to use. First they plotted the data by hand, then they wrote an analysis of their graph. They word processed their conclusion, copied and pasted the data into excel and then created excel charts they copied over into their conclucion document. They finished with a completed professional looking report. This activity meant much more to them because the data was real, about a real world problem.