The 21st Century Launch

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (“Moving Education Forward”, 2004) initiative focuses on providing the tools and support for educators to help students develop skills to become competitive in today’s workforce. Its website is a comprehensive network of businesses, schools, and community leaders working together to fosters critical skills in students like expert decision making and complex communication (Laureate, 2008) through the use of technology. Unlike previous centuries where literacy was determined by being able to garner content through deciphering print on a page, today’s literacies ". . . lies in online reading, comprehension and learning skills, or 21st century skills, required by the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs), including content found on wikis, blogs, video sites, audio sites, and in e-mail. They require the ability to not just “read” but also to navigate to the World Wide Web, locate information, evaluate it critically, synthesize it and communicate it-all skills that are vital to success in this century’s economy and workforce" (Miners & Pascopella, 2007). Our education system is at a crossroads. We need to choose to move forward so our students can be productive high wage earners in the global economy or sit back and let others lead the way.

Teaching students to be critical thinkers is nothing new to education. 53 years ago, ". . . Benjamin Bloom headed a group of educational psychologists who developed a classification of levels of intellectual behavior important in learning. Bloom found that over 95 % of the test questions students encounter require them to think only at the lowest possible level...the recall of information"(“Bloom’s Taxonomy”, 2002). However, the integration of technology into the global market has made sweeping changes in how we now live, work, and play (Laureate, 2008). New developments and an educational system still encompassing previous century standards for learning has prompted a new national movement. The Partnership of 21st Century Skills website (“Moving Education Forward”, 2004) is a well-organized complex system of information. I found Route 21 as well as the upcoming events and current developments posted to be relevant and applicable to the classroom. This is a useful site for helping myself and other educators learn to teach in a Web 2.0 world and rediscover the joys of teaching.

Teaching students to critically evaluate what they read for validity can be challenging. Students will often encounter situations in which they need to shift through information for relevance and “[d]ealing with these problems requires a citizenry able to understand complex issues and able to participate in dialogue about the merits of alternative public actions” (Levy & Murnane, 2006). Dr. Christopher Dede refers to judging the merit of a source as the “Golden Goose vs. Wild Goose “(Laureate, 2008) The Wild Goose aspect of the Partnership of 21st Century Skills (“Moving Education Forward”, 2004) was to see that the Strategic Council Members (“Moving Education Forward”, 2004) and board members largely consists of employees from technology based companies. These companies stand to make a huge profit when schools adopt digital means, so a bipartisan leadership would better serve the needs of today’s youth. I also have to call into question that the site doesn’t have any published data to justify the thirteen states receiving approximately $100 million a year from the U.S. Department of Education (“Rockefeller Calls for Comprehensive Education Reform to Provide Students with Job Skills”, 2009). With a little under 8 million coming to each of the thirteen states, should there not be accountability for the public funds being used? I fear if these issues are not addressed than the movement for today’s students toward the 21st century will remain firmly in the past like it has for so many years.

There are many facets to consider when adopting the principals of a 21st century teaching style. Although many resources of the Route 21 (“Welcome to Route 21”, 2007) portion of the site have helpful information, it surprised me that more emphasis was not placed on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) which according to Dr. Thornburg is the type of graduates the United States sorely needs to complete in a global economy. His recommendation is that we seek more ways to engage students in project based learning to cultivate an interest in these content areas. (Laureate, 2008) Another facet to take into account is the liability teachers assume when students are involved with online activities. Throughout my search, I did not find any mention of safe guards for students or teachers while surfing the Partnership of 21st Century Skills site (“Moving Education Forward”, 2004). It concerns me that areas so prevalent in our current society are being overlooked by a consortium considered by some to be experts in the field of education and technology,

Technology is an integral part of the daily lives of everyone whether directly or indirectly. Integrating it into the classroom will mean changing what I teach and how the students learn it. The days of rote memorization are over. Instead, as state by Dr. Dede , my students will need to focus on acting within the global community to identify a problems and find alterative solutions. The role educator for me as well will change for presenter to facilitator. Adaptations in strategies, content, professional development, and assessments will need to be made to ensure students are prepared to meet demands in the workforce outside of school (Laureate, 2008). Utilizing technology in the classroom must come second nature to all of us if we are to continue as a nation to be the best of the best.

The premise of the Partnership of 21st Century Skills (“Moving Education Forward”, 2004) has promise and if changes are made could revolutionize how students are educated in the United States. So many other trends in education have come and gone, I hope that integrating technology will continue to be a priority for this country’s leadership.


Resources
Bloom’s Taxonomy. (2002). Office Port. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from
http://www.officeport.com/edu/blooms.htm
Laureate Education, Inc., (Producer). 2008. Technology interfaces [Motion Picture].
Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society.
Baltimore: Author
Levy, F., & Murnane, R. (2006). Why the changing American economy calls for twenty-
first century learning: Answers toeducators' questions. New Directions for Youth
Development, 2006(110), 53-62. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier
database.
Miners, Z., & Pascopella, A. (2007). The new literacies. District Administration, 43(10),
26–34.
Moving Education Forward (2004). Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Retrieved
November 23, 2009 from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/
Rockefeller Call for Comprehensive Education Reform to Provide Students with Job
Skills. (2009, May, 13). Press Room: Press Releases. Retrieved November 23,
2009, from http://rockefeller.senate.gov/press/record.cfm?id=312976
Welcome to Route 21 (2007). Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Retrieved November
23, 2009, from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/

Pre-K Bloggers

In my pre-kindergarten classroom, I would create a classroom blog to communicate with parents, post student work, and provide a resource network.  November in Web Literacy for Educators tell us “[r]esearch suggests that parental involvement is a huge indicator of a student’s success in school” (November, 2008). I feel that a blog would give me a better platform to communicate with parents then a paper copy of my usual newsletter. 

Independent blogging is beyond the ability of my pre-emergent readers and writers however; I do feel that they would benefit from participating in the creation process, as well as making post and responding to comments through sentence dictation, Podcasts and digital photograph.  Academically speaking, blogging classroom events would give my students the opportunity to practice such skills as restating, retelling, and communicating for a specific purpose.

Blogging is our opportunity as educators to change the face of how America’s youth view writing.  It is an excellent way to spark student interest and foster independent thinking because students feel valued and empowered.  Dr. Thornburg calls creativity the “cornerstone element of education”. (Laureate Education, Inc., 2007).  As a pre-kindergarten teacher, I am a firm believer that the process of how one achieves success is far greater than the product. 

Resources

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2007). Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society [Motion picture]. Teacher as professional. Baltimore. 

November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

  

Technology in an Emergant Reader Classroom

"If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow."

John Dewey

Integrating technology in the classroom can be exciting as well as overwhelming. The Web 2.0 educational movement calls for using technology to promote pedagogy as well as content. As a primary grade teacher, I often feel that some aspects maybe out of the reach of my emergent readers. The purpose of this blog is encourage myself to explore new technological avenues so that I can then in turn share what I have discovered with others.

Beyond using the Internet to visit various site for skill practice or building background knowledge, what other ways can students pre-k-2nd use technology to foster higher order thinking.

Vincent, T. (2009). Education & Technology Quotes. Slide Share. Retrieved November 11, 2009, from http://www.slideshare.net/tonyvincent/education-technology-quotes