Monday, September 17, 2007
China, Globalization & 21st Century Skills
As you consider the changing economic and educational trends globally (including China), what are the implications for education in the US? Do you see a need for teaching 21st century skills? If so, how might you promote 21st century skills within your classroom?
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22 comments:
I feel the US does need to change some of the ways they are teaching to meet the 21st century goals, as well as, to keep up with China and India. Students do need to see the technological advances that are occurring in our society. However, I feel that there is a fine line we need to draw when we discuss this change. Some people think we should just drop everything and go all technological and that’s it. I feel that students need to learn in a variety of different ways. I don’t think we should throw out some of the lessons or teaching methods that research supports. I think that students learn best with a wide range of experiences. I feel we need to teach students in ways that best meets their needs. I teach 3rd grade and I feel that technology does have a place in the classroom, but to a certain extent. In order to promote 21st century skills within my classroom I would incorporate webquests, research projects, hyperstudio projects, and some sort of typing skills. You could also use microscopes that type up to PC’s, video clips from united streaming, etc… I think it’s important for students to recognize that technology is not just incorporating computers into your classroom, but there is also other forms of technology that can be used in the classrooms.
It seems to be a big push in education for students to leave high school with all skills and knowledge necessary to be successful in future jobs. We are to prepare every student for whatever possibilities lie in their futures. By living under the assumption that this is possible, I think we are doing a huge disservice to our children and our future.
Possibly the greatest realization I had when I graduated from undergrad and became a teacher was that no amount of learning or education would ever suffice. Never would I have knowledge sufficient enough to be done with learning. Now, that might not sound like a huge realization, but to have just spent 4 years in preparation for entering a career and to realize that the education I received (and that any pre-service teacher receives) was not sufficient for doing my job—that there were still huge components of my curriculum that I did not understand how to teach or communicate well in my classroom—was a new-found awareness. And now with new literacies and expectations for teaching and engaging students with technology, even seasoned teachers should be feeling they do not know everything necessary for doing their job impeccably.
Back to the students we teach and what we are called to prepare them for---I think we need to prepare students for the simple truth that if you want to be successful, no matter what career you are interested in or find yourself working in at what ever point in your life, NEW LEARNING will have to happen. Even in hourly paid jobs, new skills, lingo, approaches are developed by corporate offices and handed down to those that do the daily jobs. The greatest ideas we can teach our students is that: change happens, having to learn new things is a result of change. With that said, I think education and educators need to focus on teaching students how to LEARN, how to ADAPT within the context of agreed-upon, foundational concepts (NC SCOS). It is not possible for us to fully prepare students for the career world; they have to be capable of adapting to new situations, realizing when there is a need for learning, and stepping up to the challenge. In my example of my first year teaching, no one stepped in my classroom and said I needed to have a better understanding of Writer’s Workshop. I felt it. My “writer’s workshop” didn’t look or feel right when I was working with students. I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. So what did I do to solve my self-initiated problem? I read more (LEARNED more) about what I was trying to achieve.
I guess I am seeing that with all the expectations educators have handed to them, there needs to be a greater shift in preparing students with SKILLS necessary for success. I believe a huge part of these skills are how to find information and use 21st century technologies. But, the biggest lesson for us to take away from technology is that the “game” will continue to change; teachers need to help create students who are ready to adapt.
To quote Salmanca, protagonist in Sharon Creech’s Walk Two Moons, “Hurry, hurry, hurry!” With the realities of globalization, especially in China and India, the diminishing need for knowledge workers, and the accelerating societal change into the conceptual age; it's obvious that what students learn as well as how and when they learn must change to reflect 21st century skills.
With that in mind, trends in education in the US must begin facilitating learning that is more relevant for today’s children and their future, and frankly that cannot be done without the integration of technology. Students are "growing up digital." Their view of the world is very different from that of current adults; students are experiencing cradle to grave access to information, people, and ideas across highly interactive media that is unprecedented. This intense interactivity has its cost, pitfalls, and dangers; teachers can be easily sidelined by these concerns. However, educators must challenge themselves to keep the conversation on how to carry out student learning with technology.
Therefore, educators must help students develop the 21st century skills that enable them to fully realize technology's most positive effects. Students’ success in the 21st century will be largely based on their ability to become proficient using technology to access information, in all its forms, across all domains and culture.
In my opinion, educators have no choice. If you believe Pink’s construct that we are moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age then educators must stay current with practices that promote students’ development of 21st skills.
In my classroom, I will facilitate learning activities to develop my students understanding of the characteristics and scope of technology. My inquiry project will have my students participating in a blog. I plan on checking out our school wireless cart of laptop computers, so that students can complete project achieve assignments already located on the web; as well as have them email me those assignments for grading. I still feel like a dear caught in the headlights when engaged in the writing process with my students. I would prefer that they engage in process from start to finish using word processing which reflects real world application. Unfortunately, the 7th grade writing test is still handwritten. So, I split the difference and have them hand write their rough draft and word process the rest of the steps. This doesn’t feel very authentic and I am looking for better solutions. Change is a constant; I am obliged to find ways for technology to be a bridge to academic excellence for my students.
As educators, we constantly hear that we have to prepare our students to be able to succeed in a global society. I think that it is important that we stress the importance to teaching 21st century skills because our students are not only competing against each other, but we are also in competition with other countries around the world. With the work force and other areas of our lives moving more towards the conceptual age, we need to continue to change our teaching strategies to meet these changing needs.
Technology is a driving force in education, our work force, and in our everyday lives. I think that it is important to provide our students with opportunities to experience all the advances in technology that are available to us today. For many teachers this is a scary reality. However, it is important that we teach our students the technology skills that are important for them to learn at certain stages in their educational career.
I believe that it is my professional obligation to continue to attend professional development that allows me to expand my skills in technology in order for me to be able to successfully teach my student the skills they need. I am fortunate enough to have access to 5 multimedia carts at my school that are available for us to check out and use in our classrooms. We have been able to do many projects using technology, webquests, collaborative assignments, and several writing projects using technology. Writing is a tough area to teach, and I have found that my students really enjoy using the computer to publish their writings. They are able to work on typing skills as well as learn about inserting pictures, making borders, and using other tools such as spell check and the thesaurus. Out motto at my school this year is "Knowledge is Power!" I believe that this is important for teachers as well as students!
As economic and global trends are changing, the United States is going to need to prepare our future students for a much more competitive society. As Yorke stated, we are no longer only competing amongst ourselves in the United States, but we are now competing with other countries. With that being said, it is of the utmost importance for educators to consider this when developing lessons within the classroom. Our students are going to need to be equipped with skills that reach far beyond just the basic subject areas. We need to prepare them for a society where they will be surrounded by technology each and every day. As teachers we need to help are students to become comfortable using this technology to accomplish a variety of tasks. Students these days need to know much more than reading, writing, math, and social studies in order to be successful. They need to be able to manipulate and apply this information (and much more) in real world settings. It is obvious that education is going to change drastically in the 21st century due to the economic and educational trends which are occurring globally. It is time that we begin to realize that we must prepare our students to compete globally with millions of other people.
Thus, I see a great need for teaching 21st century skills, because these are the skills that our students are going to need in order to be successful in society. It is important for teachers to integrate technology into the classroom, since our society is becoming so technologically advanced. That means that teachers need to become familiar with technology so they feel comfortable teaching it to the students. The more comfortable we are with teaching it, the more comfortable they will be with using it. We need to build our students communication, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills as we teach the core curriculum to prepare them for a society where they will need to communicate and collaborate with others to solve problems and accomplish a wide range of tasks. It is important that we make education relevant to the students and provide them with real world examples so they can learn how to apply what they are learning both inside and outside the classroom. It is also important that students be equipped with global awareness and financial, business, and civic literacy. These skills, amongst others, will launch them into the jobs of the future. These 21st century skills will be critical for students to emerge as successful leaders and citizens in our society. Without these skills, they will not be able to successfully compete globally with others who are better equipped. As Tom Vilsack stated in the Road to 21st Century Learning: “Education is the single most important investment we can make in our nation’s future. The world is becoming more competitive and complicated than ever before, and we need to give our young people the knowledge and skills they need to meet the challenges and opportunities for tomorrow” (page 5).
I will promote 21st century skills in my classroom by integrating more technology into my lessons. I feel it is important for my students to interact with these types of tools at an early age, so they can begin to see these tools as the keys to their success. I will also try and make learning relevant to their lives, so they can learn to apply what I teach them outside of the classroom. I will allow my students to participate in inquiry activities where they collaborate with other classmates to solve problems and complete hands-on projects. Finally, I will strive to allow them to explore creatively and intellectually in the classroom to develop accountability and independence. As a Kindergarten teacher, I feel that it is my job to build a strong foundation for my students, so as they move through elementary school they feel comfortable using these 21st century skills. I will continue to participate in professional development to build my knowledge of the best way to help my students move toward having a successful future. While it sounds cliché, we hold the keys to our children’s success, it’s time we unlock the doors and successfully lead them into the 21st century.
I believe that economic trends are changing drastically consequently our educational systems need to “keep up” with our new aggressive society. In the past decade we have seen how our economy has been radically affected by technology.
I will prepare my students for the 21st century in a variety of ways. Students are already growing up in a very different world than we did. Technology has so much influence on them in their every day lives, and we need to carry this importance of technology into the classroom. I will try to incorporate many hands on projects that tie into the curriculum and also relate to the real world. Many of these projects should integrate technology since that is the way global trends are moving towards. For our students to be successful in the 21st century we need to embed motivation and the tools and strategies for learning. Since our society is a changing one, we need to teach students how to learn and adapt as society changes. We need to introduce them to a variety of concepts and allow them to solve real world problems in multiple ways. I also plan on allowing my students to become more familiar with technology by using Webquest, research projects using the Web, and blogs.
Teaching 21st century skills is no longer optional in this modern age of technology. As the global economy shifts, the United States must be able to not only keep up, but continue to be a force that helps form the shifting global economic tides. These new generation of students are the key. However, in order to harness this incredible potential, we (I) have to begin to address the unique qualities of this new generation. This includes teaching higher level inquiry based thinking. Students no longer need to know basic information, but need to understand the process of the discovery. Our students already know how to access information and research self-defined relevant topics. What we (I) need to do is to coaxes my students into choosing “relevant” topics about their changing world (global awareness), and economics (financial literacy) while teaching reading. In order to do this I must be willing to teach more outside the box. If my students need to see the connections to what they are learning, then I need to either provide relevant examples of how what they are learning connect to their future careers, or I need to have them explore those career choices via the internet. If my students are spending every waking hour blogging, text-messaging, U-tubing, My space-ing and e-mailing, then I need to bring versions of this into the classroom. In other words, multiple forms of technology need to be a prominent feature of my 21st century language arts classroom.
I think that we are already starting to promote 21st century skills to our students. Technology is starting to play a big role in education and in our society. Teachers are required to teach and use different types of technology in their classroom. You see it being taught more in the classroom now then when I was in school. Teachers and students do more with computers, power points, web quests, and etc now then before. Students are starting to use technology at young ages and continue to use it through out school. I think that teachers need to continue to use technology through out there classroom, but it should not be the only thing. Students need to still be taught in a variety of ways. Technology is not the only thing that students interact with in the work force, but technology is seen more in the work force so it is good to prepare our students for it. After I got done with high school and college I did not think that I would use technology as much as I do. With saying that, I wish that I was taught the technology that the students now are starting to learn b/c it would be helpful to me being a teacher. I see myself using the computer a lot and still having to ask how to do certain things on it. So by educators using and teaching technology in the classroom it is getting the students prepared for the 21st century.
In my kindergarten classroom right now the students are learning how to login to the computers and find the educational games. It will take then a couple of months to be good at logging in to the computer. We only go once a week and that is only if there is no testing going on. I only have two computers in my room, but only one really works. I hope this year to have them learn how to write a sentence on the computer in words. I also would like to try to get them into the computer room more then just a few times a month because they enjoy using the computers.
After reading the articles, I believe the US definitely needs to change instruction practices to meet the 21st century goals and keep up with other countries. Although the US is used to be on top, if we do not work on our education system and preparing our children, we will fall behind. I think the one thing that really took me by surprise was that there are not as many technical careers being pursued.
In my teaching experience, I actually taught in a variety of areas, from inner city Richmond to the upper middle class elite of Northern Virginia. Talk about extremes -- these two areas and their technology levels were polar opposites. In Richmond, we were lucky enough to have a computer in our classroom that was rebuilt to function and could not be relied upon for communication emails from administration and sometimes I did not even have a classroom with an overhead projector. Then I moved to Northern Virginia. This area was like living in the "Mary Poppins" land of teaching. I walked into my classroom (brand new as the school was just built and we were the first year) and was surrounded by 4 classroom computers with the top technology as well as 3 computer labs, 3 mobile labs, individual teacher web pages (updated weekly) and resources to acquire any technology desired. I realize that most of this was possible because the school system was one of the richest in the nation. We need to find ways to bring all school systems the tools that they need.
Although I am not currently teaching, I do plan to utilize blogging in my classroom when I return. I think this is a great way to open up communication with students. I think it would be a great way to tie together the writing process and technology. Getting an idea tends to pose problems for some students, but if they could brainstorm with classmates through blogging, I think they might be more open to actually starting "writing". I have noticed with my students it is just getting an idea or the confidence that their idea is good that is the hardest part.
Previously in my classroom, I have incorporated 21st century skills by having students produce all of their writing from the year on the computer (adding graphics, color, font, etc) and then designing a cover - we then send them away to be bound professionally. Students love it because they get to be creative, add their personal touches to their pages, and I focus their writing assignments around their life so it ends up being a book about them.
I really think the most important aspect of 21st century skills is teaching students how to apply them outside of the classroom, giving them the real world application. We can't be with them every moment, but we want them to be able to use what we have taught them on their own. This is probably the most useful skill we can teach them.
I know that I am now more aware of the ever changing world and how I must be ready to adapt at all times, bringing in new technology or whatever presents itself next.
In reference to teaching 21st Century Skills, the US has fallen behind countries like China and India. Our education system is no longer the best in the world. We turn out thousands of high school and college graduates each year, but they graduate lacking the skills necessary for success in today’s world. Education, on all levels, needs to be reworked to include the teaching of 21st century skills: core subjects, learning skills, 21st century tools, 21st century context, 21st century content, and 21st century assessments. Outsourcing and simply looking elsewhere have become realities in today’s job market, and until we can revamp our education system to teach the 21st century skills necessary to compete in the global market, they will remain a reality for years to come.
It seems as if just now, as we are reading these articles, that Wake County is stepping up to the 21st century plate. On Friday, I received “A Framework for 21st Century Learning” from Wake County. Surprisingly, it looks a lot like the arch that is seen and described in the article by Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Now, after reading the article, I understand what each of the sections implies and have a greater understanding of what each of the 21st century skills are. However, no one else in my building has read this article. I hope that with this poster, which we have been instructed to post in our classrooms, comes some training on 21st century skills and how to promote them in the classroom.
I do feel that teaching 21st century skills is necessary. Our children will not be able to compete in the global market without these skills. And, as educators, it is our responsibility to make sure they are ready to survive and thrive in the “real world.” I feel that 21st century skills are slowly starting to be taught in schools…especially at the collegiate level. I received my undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Appalachian State University. In order to graduate from the teaching program, one must provide proof of mastery of over 20 technology competencies. The technology competencies range from creating a word document, to Power Point, to creating a web site, to creating an interactive web-based activity for children. So, in order to graduate, a student in the teaching program at ASU must have some mastery of 21st century skills. These skills are things that should, and could, be used to help teach our students 21st century skills, to bring 21st century skills into the classroom and provide examples of how to use the technologies we are surrounded by in everyday situations.
I use to teach 4th grade at Parkway Elementary in Boone, NC. Most of the students in the school were children of college professors and professionals in the surrounding community. I taught a unit on Grandfather Mountain, culminating in a field trip to the site. As a final project, to show what they had learned, the students created a news program about Grandfather Mountain. They took total control of the project, I stood back and merely guided. They watched various news programs to select a format for their show, researched topics to discuss that related to Grandfather Mountain, interviewed people who worked at Grandfather Mountain, collected data about the weather conditions for a week and made a weather forecast prediction based on their findings. After all of the work was done, we taped their news program and broadcast it to the other 4th grade classes. The children took ownership of their program, and learned a lot about Grandfather Mountain and the technology needed to successfully complete their broadcast.
This year, teaching Kindergarten, I hope to introduce my students to the technologies that they will be using for years to come. I want to show them how to use the computer, and how to start researching things on the internet. I want them to have experience with Power Point presentations, computer generated graphs, Web Quests, etc. I hope to introduce technologies to them and give them a real understanding of the importance of technology in their lives, both in school and outside of school.
The economic and educational trends are changing. Among the many reasons that China is rising, cheap land and labor are pushing them to become the next superpower. With an average economic growth of 10% and their huge population, they’re possibly on their way to becoming a superpower in a sense. Their income, however, remains low. This means that they will not be among the richest superpowers, but, it does mean that jobs and goods are more attractive to Westerners because they’re cheaper. This is where I begin to see a need for 21st century skills.
We have an obligation to teach and learn in the 21st century. Our curriculum and standards have to be refined to meet these demands so that students can be successful in the future. Our quality of education has to focus on these skills because people are being prepared using these skills around the world. We need to prepare students to enter technical fields so that they are not passed up for positions by highly competent students in other nations.
We have to do a better job preparing students for challenges that they will face when they leave school and enter the workplace. Students need to be able to use 21st century skills to be able to be successful. These skills have to be taught within context and embedded into lessons/activities so that they are more meaningful and relevant. Unfortunately, there are students who do not have access to technology when they are home. This gives other students an upper hand in terms of making these important skills a part of their everyday. That is why the technology that we integrate while we teach has to be meaningful.
I try to promote 21st century skills within my classroom whenever possible. We use a tape recorder in the listening center, the overhead projector while doing various activities and experiments, the computer for reading, writing, and math activities, and the television for United Streaming videos that may tie into a unit that we are learning about. We also have a computer lab that we will be going to once a week. I think that I feel that I’m integrating technology when I can, but, I also feel that I could embed it into my lessons more. I think that, as teachers, we become comfortable with how we teach activities, that we don’t always see room for change. I want to try to find a way to teach 21st century skills more often in my classroom.
I most definitely believe that in order for my students today to be successful in the future, they have to be comfortable with communicating skills and problem solving. However, I do feel that although I’m going to make an effort to integrate these skills whenever possible, there is still great importance in the almighty pencil, paper, and book!
After reading The World is Flat and A Whole New Mind, I too realize that teaching 21st century skills is the only option to make our student’s competitive with the global market and economy. To make this a reality, I know that I need to adapt my teaching to reflect the needs of the 21st century learner. Facilitating critical thinking as well as inquiry-based lessons are necessary for my students to be successful in our world today. In addition, our students need to have mastery of the core subjects—including a second language—an important factor that education in the United States is deficient. Most countries require at least a second language for their students…why are we falling behind? What a powerful tool to give our students!
In addition, I do think we need to incorporate technology into our classrooms even more. To make this a reality across grade levels, professional develop is key to educating teachers on the possibilities available to them in the classroom. While I gather much of what I know through graduate classes and self-education, some teachers need to be given adequate time to explore, collaborate and develop units of study that have technology as an integral part of learning.
I believe that the US does need to make some changes in the education system to help prepare students to be competitive with the other countries, including China and India. We need to be adapting to the 21st century learners in our classrooms. We need to do a better job of incorporating technology in the classroom to better prepare our students so they can be successful by the time they enter the work place.
I need to do a better job of integrating technology in my classroom. I do this when I can, but resources are limited even in school. Most of my students do not have access to computers outside school, so it is even more important for me to incorporate technology in my lessons when I can. I teach kindergarten so I am introducing the students to all these new skills. Unfortunately, we are only allowed access to the computer lab once a week, so this makes things challenging. We do have two computers in the classroom, but they are not always working. The students do enjoy whatever time they are able to have time on the computer.
Although I think it is important for us to be adapting to the 21st century learner, I think it is also important to remember the basic skills that students will also need to be successful.
To me, it seems as if 21st century skills works against what the No Child Left Behind Act is trying to achieve. These two concepts force instructors to make a choice between content and methodology. The objectives behind the No Child Left Behind Act are to ensure all students have a comprehension of all concepts deemed applicable to the child’s grade level. One of the primary aims of 21st century skills is that children begin to use technology to help foster their education.
The problem here stems from the fact that technology affords users the freedom to learn any way they want to about anything that they want to know. Now children have options for the ways they can deliver a history report. Instead of just reading their report, they can create a powerpoint presentation, or a movie or a podcast to illustrate what they learned about the book. Likewise, their report is not limited to what the textbook says. They can now search the Internet for thousands of websites on the subject. They could also chat with family and friends across the world to learn what they know about the subject as well.
It seems, though, that the pressures of No Child Left Behind would force teachers to stifle the freedom that the technology affords in favor of making sure the children learn the specific concepts needed for them to pass to the next grade. This makes me see education in a more business-like model. Just as the factory worker needs to have X number of cogs produced in a given year, so do school need to worry about graduating X number of students every year. Both the factory and the school cannot be concerned with alternative methods of production if its going to cost them their quota in cogs/graduating students.
Somehow, we must rectify the conflicting interests between No Child Left Behind and 21st century skills. Ideally, this would involve some sort of compromise which allows the values of both to remain a part of the educational process. If, however, no such compromise can be reached, they we must begin to ask ourselves what we should value more: content or methodology. This, in my opinion, should be our primary focus as we begin this new century. Without dealing with this problem first, we cannot even begin to consider other issues, such as the rising educational competition from other countries such as China. It is imperative that we first address this foundational problem that the U.S. educational system currently faces.
After reading A Whole New Mind and the articles on China and 21st Century Skills, it is clear to me that there are great implications for education in the United States due to the changing economic and educational trends taking place globally. The U.S. is making a positive first step by creating the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. It is vital that we teach all educators and students about how to teach and learn using ICT Information and Communication Technology if we are to keep up with the rest of the world and not be left behind. I agree that “technology is a springboard to higher level learning” and that we have a long way to go in terms of incorporating technology into all core subject areas. I also agree that integrating technology into teaching and learning will build interest and engage all students, including low-performing students, which are the exact students I teach as a Title 1 reading teacher. By incorporating 21st Century Thinking Learning using active learning, cooperative learning, and technology, students will learn the critical thinking, problem solving, and creative skills they will need to be successful in the work force as adults, thereby enabling them to compete with rising superpowers such as China.
I would love to use more technology with my students. I would love to have the training and resources to do so. I feel that this should become the norm and not the exception in all classrooms, including special services such as Title 1. Even though I do not have any computers in my room (other than my laptop), I can still talk about technology and teach my students critical thinking and problem solving. Last year, I used my laptop to have students do research on different ocean animals and also show them videos of ocean animals for a National Boards entry that required incorporating technology into my reading lesson. This was a new way of teaching for me, and was not easy at first. But the students loved it and were so excited to use the computer, even though they had to take turns. As a result of this experience, I can see that I need to design other lessons such as that one for my students this year, but it would be nice to have computers and other technology available in order to do so. I will just have to be creative in thinking of other ways to increase their knowledge of ICT literacy and 21st Century Skills!
I am glad that this is a push to improve the education system in the United States, but I do not feel as if the new laws and requirements are addressing the real problems. Instead, these “restrictions” are creating even more problems. For example, all students have to pass the English I EOC with a level III or level IV score in order to get out of English I. It doesn’t matter if the students are good test takers or not or if they succeeded in class all semester. If they don’t pass the EOC, they don’t pass the class. I understand the need to do well on a test, but I don’t like that it’s become the ruler for all students. Not all students are going to go to college, but it seems as if this factor is not considered with the new requirements. Students have to perform well in so many content courses, courses where a lot of “teaching to the test” takes place. It tends to limit the creative and skilled classes that students can take as well as limit the 21st century skills that are taught in the content courses.
I do see the need to teach 21st century skills in my classroom. During these past three years of teaching, I have always dismissed student projects that have involved incorporating technology because I thought the students did not have the resources or knowledge on using the technology. This has changed, however, and I am the one who is going to have to catch up with their technology skills. There are so many methods that I can use to incorporate technology into my teaching, and I can encourage my students to try different forms of technology by modeling it for them. I can give students projects to do and ultimately, provide them with the resources for using 21st century skills.
Our readings make the case that unless the U.S. changes the way it prepares students for global participation, our country will lose its economic and technological standings. Furthermore, other countries will out pace our ability to innovate and lead. As a result, we will lose jobs, commercial influence, technological and economic power, which will likely affect our prosperity local and national prosperity, particularly as opportunities for unskilled workers decline. There is an urgent need for 21st century skills acquisition, because work opportunities and technology are changing rapidly, which affect the economy and individual’s livelihoods.
In addition to preparing students for the workforce, educators have long struggle to connect classroom content and students’ lives. Many times, classroom experiences have failed to relate to students lives and to their realistic preparation for life after and outside of school. Implementing the teaching of 21st century skills provides new opportunities to meet challenges, complete projects, and collaborate. Implementing 21st century skills will improve educational instruction in ways that it should have changed long ago. By teaching 21st century skills, teachers will come to see their students as more capable learners, and students will begin to see school as a greater, more engaging resource.
I would promote 21st century skills in my classroom by framing the learning of classroom content as an investigation or a puzzle to solve, as the article illustrated. I would also provide a greater variety of opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know, by using portfolios and more flexible assessment. I am interested in the way technology is constantly changing, and I am interested in the way it can preserve history and document experience and events. Ultimately, technology is an incredible communication tool that is undervalued and underused. I appreciated that this article addressed policymakers, because without changes at the state and district levels, teachers will have difficulty implementing any relevant technological innovations and learning opportunities.
As David Lampton argues, nations can achieve their goals by using guns, money, or ideas. The Chinese president argues that the country is improving because of its money and ideas. China has the potential to become the second largest economy within the next 15 years, and China’s new power is partly a result of its exports. U.S. leaders are nervous about China’s growing export economy, but China is also being relied on to import products from other countries. These countries now use China to support their economies by buying their products. We need to prepare our students to be competitive in an increasingly global economy where countries such as China will provide competition for jobs. Teachers need to push students harder to reach more rigorous standards and expectations in order to prepare them to be successful adults. Students must have 21st century schools to compete in our job market. They need opportunities in classrooms to practice using 21st century skills such as collaborating, using technology, and creating products. All students do not come to our classrooms proficient in 21st century skills; students from low-income homes or homes with limited access to technology may need extra support in order to meet the standards and to become proficient in technology skills. It’s up to teachers to help eliminate gaps between groups of students created by the technological divide. The Guide to the 21st Century Skills article stated that the US will face a shortage of scientists because too few are entering technical fields and because of highly competent scientist in other nations. US dominance in science and other technical fields is at risk because this. Students need to be challenged at school with relevant and interesting instruction. As the article stated, they need to learn how to communicate with people who are not in their peer groups, analyze information from a variety of sources, write and present well-reasoned arguments, and develop solutions to interdisciplinary problems that have no one right answer. Schools are responsible for preparing students to be successful in a global economy by helping them master 21st century skills. One way I try to help students is by giving them opportunities to use technology for a variety of purposes. For example, students will participate in online discussions about books, create PowerPoints, locate objects using a GPS, and complete research using the Internet.
I agree that 21st century skills in education are an integral part of our commitment to be globally competitive in the next generation. Experiences with technology in classrooms and at home will provide career opportunities for individuals that would otherwise not exist. That stated, I believe that the implication to our educational system in the United States is one that will require these skills to be a part of curriculum starting with students as young as kindergarten. According to The Road to 21st Century Learning, the US is educating less competent scientist and technical field persons than competing countries around the world. Therefore, in order to contend with these nations in the global economy we need to make changes to our educational atmospheres and techniques.
My concern is that with the governmental requirement of all states to provide testing to students beginning in the third grade too much emphasis lies on standardized test taking. Unfortunately, in my experience, schools often narrow the educational focus to topics for which students will be held accountable at a state level. For instance, this week while meeting with my grade level and administration the question came up about what our math essential outcomes should be for the first quarter. To me, an essential outcome is a skill that we feel students must know to be successful and to create a foundation for future math proficiency. Before my team had a chance to look at our goals my principal stated that we need to look at how many questions from last years End of Grade were focused on each objective so that we could make a decision that would help student pass the test. These are the type of statements that make me feel that we are doing a disservice to children in their education.
I am currently teaching in a school that provides third through fifth grade teachers with scripted lessons in both reading and math written by the county and our new writing program follows much the same structure. When teachers are expected to all be teaching the same skills, in the same way, on the same day to every student, how can we purport that these laws and tests are bringing us closer to educating youths that will be competitive, creative and analytical? I do think that 21st century skills are imperative, but educators and administrators may do little to implement teaching through technology until we are told students will be tested on it. Until than informed teachers need to step outside the parameters that we often work in and use computers for research, PowerPoints made by teachers and students and webquests to begin exposing children to some of the tools that they will be working with in their adult lives.
I agree with much of what Sara has said. I think that there are many innovative, useful ways to integrate technology in the classroom to help our student become 21st Century learners. However, I do not think that technology is a panacea, and I think we must ensure that our use of it is purposeful.
Many of today’s students have access to the computers, video games, Ipods, and text messaging which means that they are continually engaged with media and information. Because most students are more adept at this technology than their parents or teachers, it can become difficult to monitor what they are hearing, reading and seeing. Just because students can access these tools does not mean they have the maturity to process the information they’re exposed to. Therefore, one of the most indispensable skills we can teach students is how to assess information, its sources, and their legitimacy. This need for critical literacy should remain a priority as we contemplate how to integrate useful technology into the curriculum.
Another implication of these changes for schools is that we must make efforts to bridge the digital divide. While many students have access to the latest technology, others do not even have access to a working computer outside of school. If schools are committed to producing students who are technologically literate, we have a moral imperative to ensure that such a move does not widen the gap between rich and poor. This requires more than half an hour in the computer lab once a week. The Maine Laptop Initiative is one example of how to effectively meet this need for children. I would love to see a similar possibility in local schools.
Within my own classroom, I think that promoting the use of technology in service to the curriculum is important. Besides helping students learn how to properly use the Internet for research and resources like PowerPoint and video cameras for presentation, I am really interested in the possibilities of digital storytelling. Particularly in an English or social studies class, it would be great to help students harness these tools to tell their own stories. I have seen some powerful examples of digital storytelling on edutopia and other websites. In order to effectively use these tools, I need to increase my own comfort level with technology. Personally, I have allowed my own feelings of ineptitude (or fear of chaos) to hamper my use of technology in the classroom. Making the time to take advantage of workshops the county offers (or finding other means to further my own knowledge) needs to be a priority.
Even coming from a non-classroom teacher, my opinion is that we absolutely must prepare students these days to be more than comfortable when using the latest technology. Teaching with chalk and a blackboard is all but obsolete in the middle and upper grades, and students should certainly be taught how to become masters of these new technology advances (and most of them are already VERY well self-taught when it comes to text messaging, MySpace, blogging, webcasting, etc.) so that they can compete for jobs as the global market changes. We would be doing these students a huge disservice if we allowed them to graduate from high school without providing them the knowledge and tools to navigate in a world where technology is rapidly advancing, and where being able to use it is becoming a "must". Other countries are doing their part in preparing their students with 21st-century skills, and if the United States is to continue to be a major player in the global economy, I don't see a question as to "if" we should teach these new skills. I think it needs to be "when" we begin implementing technology instruction into the elementary grades as standard material.
When (IF??) I finish my PhD here at NCSU and go on to become a professor, I will rely heavily on technology to deliver lectures on a daily basis. Knowing how boring and mundane note-taking can be for anyone, I plan on using various multimedia approaches to help add more dimensions to the learning process. I have already had professors who regularly play lesson "trivia" games with their classes, using personal remote controls to click in your answer as each question is revealed. It is a very interactive way to teach and help reinforce the material (especially when king-size Hershey bars are the prize for the student who gets the highest score...).
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