When I began browsing the website for The Partnership for the 21st Century skills, I was really impressed with their initiative to push technology integration in the classroom. I liked seeing that not only is the government involved in this project, but other businesses and the community as well. It's another way of showing our students that partnership and collaboration is key to thriving in today's society. I listened to an excerpt on the "About Us" page that highlights that there is a severe gap in what students are learning in the classrooms and what is actually being learned in the workforce. This just goes to show how important it is for technology integration into the classrooms.
I really loved their colorful skills framework model that highlights exactly what the student outcomes are and how we as educators can support them through the many different ripples at the bottom. These skills and outcomes need to be dispersed throughout all content areas and works to develop high order thinking skills within our students. When we do assessments at the middle and end of the year, the largest gap for our students is their ability to grasp the critical thinking skills. By fostering collaboration and community within the schools, students can begin to ask deeper thinking questions about the subject at hand and share their insights through the use of blogs and wikis. I downloaded the common core toolkit and briefly browsed the contents. I have printed it out to share with my school administrators so that we can hopefully begin to jump on board with this new initiative that is required for our students in the 21st Century.
One thing I was a bit disappointed in was seeing that there were only 16 states out of 50 listed as having these initiatives. We have all known that resources have been the big issue at hand when it comes to teachers wanting to integrate technology into their classrooms, but I never realized it was this bad. Sadly, my state was even listed, and I still feel like we are lacking in resources! I hope we see more states and districts adopting this plan and moving forward with technology integration. If not, we will see our students fall way behind other countries and struggle to find work in the future.
Kori,
ReplyDeleteI also liked the fact that business and community groups have expressed such an interest in the integration of technology in education. I do see their motivation; I believe the workforce is changing so rapidly, they need to intervene with their future workers as early as possible. Some of the 21st century skills are difficult to teach and may take years to cultivate. I hope that more educators realize the importance of grooming these skills in our youth so they will be fully prepared in the future. There can be no excuse anymore for sticking to the old "industrial age" of education. The success of our children and all of those we teach relies on the mind shift to view education from a technological standard. Only then can we begin to move forward and reap the benefits of the technology around us.
- Jodi
Hi Kori,
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful thing when communities and businesses get involved to help education.
I agree that the work force is changing quickly and we as educators need to stay abreast of new technology in order to teach our students the skills they need to be successful in the workforce when they enter it.
We have to continue to learn new and innovative ways to teach our students technology as well as how to really reflect on their learning to help them become criticaly thinkers and find the best way to solve issues or a task at hand so that our students do not need to be told every step of the way what to do.
Nice job,
Gayle
Kori,
ReplyDeleteI also spent some time looking at the skills framework and found it to be rather enlightening. There was a lot of information within such a simple graphic, which almost makes it seem like the relationship between schools and 21st century skills should be a no-brainer.
I was also surprised at the small number of states (16/50) who have the initiatives, which probably explains why I have not heard of this partnership before. I have no wonder if states are responsible for not jumping on board, or if this partnership is not doing enough to market this initiative. Regardless, I think our country would be headed in the right direction if all states could get on the same page and prepare this generation of students for the 21st century workplace.
Kori,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100% that our students struggle with critical thinking skills. If something is not spelled out perfectly for them, they are not sure what to do. This is one reason many students struggle with word problems in Math classes.
It also saddens me that my state (NY) is not listed either. I love the concept behind P21 and see the skills as critical. WE know full well that we cannot teach everything that a student needs to know to be successful with the jobs that will develop in the next decade or two, but these skills can prepare them to prepare themselves for whatever life throws at them.
Kevin-
DeleteI was very surprised NY was not listed as well! I am originally from there and taught there for a few years and always thought that since they were known for their extensive educational requirements for both teachers and students that they would have definitely been on the forefront of this initiative. It just goes to show that too many states are still stuck on teaching to the test and passing those rigorous state exams!