This week, I would like to share my views on the Web site: Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
The Partnership For 21st Century Skills and its members provide a vast number of tools and resourse to help US education system keep up by fusing the traditional 3 Rs with the essential 4 Cs (critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration and creativity and innovation.
MISSION STATEMENT
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 leader.
MEMBERS
Pearson, American Association of School Librarians, Intel Corporation, Adobe, Apple, Microsoft Corporation among others.
RESOURCES
Tool Kits, PDF Files, Brochures, Videos (speakers bureau), Publications, Online Tools, & Professional Affiliate Development Program
My initial reaction to the Web site was far from impressive because the physical appearance had too many empty spaces and the text was not evenly distributed. Nevertheless, as the saying goes, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. Therefore, after going beyond the aesthetical presentation, I realized the Web site was after all, really impressive because of the efforts of the organization to collaborate all stakeholders of the education system; teachers, parents, policy makers, students, researchers among others. The organization also attempts to sensitize all individuals whether at the local or international level about the impact of literacy on the society in the global village.
I was surprised to see uses of technology that I have been exposed since I began this course. For instance, the wide cross-section of information relating to education was presented through blogs, videos, and Wikis. Such new found knowledge is no longer a surprise because this is the era where information is exploding so technology needs to be upgraded to enhance the quality both in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. By and large, we can now see practical examples of how some technologies allow us to do things differently, while others allow us to do different things. For example, the tab Digital Art utilizes adobe systems Inc. works to host digital stories on Adobe’s Digital Kids Club Web site. I was also able to obtain new literacy strategies such as, Family Book Nights, Jumpstart’s Read for the Record Campaign. There are far more creative ways to enhance our lessons with the use of technology from this Web site.
Have you found any fresh ideas to stir the brains of your techno savvy and techno amateur students?
I did not find anything important that I disagreed with but I am sure you can share some of those with me and let us discuss them.
The implications for my students and me as a contemporary educator is that, technology can create a new learning environment. This environment should be embraced because we do not want to remain a static society. Additionally, we should also realize that technology makes traditional teaching strategies automated or completed with more efficiency. To this end, various businesses and organizations are expanding their existence in the online environment for greater recognition as well as to maximize profit. As a result, the education system should take a proactive approach to prepare its learners to meet the new work environment and thus be able to comply with global standards.
This Web site is rated 'E' for everyone. So please let me know your impression of the Web site and how you can apply some of its best practices for in an effort to adapt to 21st century skills.
Contributor: Kerry-Ann Kerr
Hello, Kerry-Ann,
ReplyDeleteLike you, I did not think there was anything to disagree with. 21st century skills are needed so the more information we can obtain the better it is.
I did not find anything that I could use for my content as far as activity. Now I need to spend more time on the website and maybe look at Language Arts or ESL. I thought the website was a bit confusing on how it is set up. It could be because I am not a native speaker so sometimes it takes me several tries before I fully understand what is going on.
I liked the way you presented the partnership for 21 Century Skill and will probably have to rearrange mine. I forgot that not only Walden’s students have access to my blog.
It is interesting that you were surprised from the technology used, I never thought of it until you mentioned it. It has become part of my everyday life even though I don’t feel I am mastering them all.
I agree that education should not “remain static”; schools should be equipped. However, we know it is not going to happen for all districts and/or in the same time. I would like people to tell me what we are going to do about the poor districts and their students. It already started. Some schools have it all and others can’t even afford textbooks. I just wonder if there would be a way to teach our students the 21st century skills with the very minimum of technology in our classroom in order to create opportunities to all.
Hélène James
Hi Helene,
ReplyDeleteUsing technology is not easy for some people although it might be the opposite for others since our abilities differ. Nevertheless, I hope you will be able to understand how to navigate your way around this site and others.
It is my hope that institutions which will experience a slow start to prepare its learners for the 21st century skills, will try to incorporate as much of the skills in most subject areas. Are there any steps you intend to take in order to begin sensitizing your students about the expectations that await them in the real world? The steps I want to take to become a part of the change process is to research and look at the policies that first world countries have about their approaches to gearing institutions for the global world. I would try to align some of the practical skills with those policies outlined by my government. Then, I would try to convince my students why they need to learn these skills and give them practical examples of how they can apply these skills into their current academic life which they should transfer into the future. I would try to give small group tutoring to students in the computer lab focusing on specific skills that they need to learn from the most simple to complex. If I am the librian, then I would try to host training sessions for students to become familiar with the expectations of the 21st century work place. I would also seek to obtain sponsorship to purchase software and other resources that will help to make my initiative worthwhile. I would also try to motivate other teachers to help me promote this awareness. I would also try to collaborate with the school's guidance counsellor to stress 21st century skills during education week.
I hope you could find some of these ideas useful. Hope you will give yourself some time to become more competent with using technology.
K. Kerr
Kerry-Ann,
ReplyDeleteAlthough I also found the website a bit difficult to navigate, it does contain some wonderful resources. For instance, I found a link to www.funnelbrain.com, which is a site that allows students to create flashcards with other students in their own class or even in other parts of the world. As a language arts teacher, I often have students create flashcards, especially for vocabulary. It is an effective strategy, but students can easily become bored by the more traditional process. With this new format, students can add audio and video to the cards, and the website provides video tutorials to show just how easy it is to create the cards. Besides flashcards, you can also create quizzes. In the video segment, Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society: "The Changing Work Environment, Part 2," Dr. Christopher Dede explains how "thinking has become distributed" (Laureate Education, 2008). This is an exciting change that has resulted from advances in technology. As an educator, I love the idea that we can learn from others all over the world, and that students can take more control of their own learning!
Take care,
Tara Minnerly
7th Grade Language ARts
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). (DVD). Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society, "The Changing Work Environment, Part 2." Baltimore, MD.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI would like to introduce the 21st century skills to my students but I know that I need to do some researches on the topic and like you come up with great and concrete examples connected to foreign languages. I already have several ideas but I am not going to rush anything. I also would like to aknowledge my department and eventually the staff at the faculty meeting. Great challenges coming up !
Helene James