I am interested in the Partnership for 21st Century Skills’ mission. I think that, based on the emerging technologies and the changes in the work place, this organization is crucial to helping schools develop the foundation for teaching students the skills they will need for the work place.
It seems to me that the partnership has the right idea for making teaching of 21st century skills successful because they link several different parties involved: educators, businesses, and community and government leaders. Each of these four parties is involved in shaping the students’ abilities.
I was surprised to read in the mission, that the Partnership views the disparities between what students learn in school and what they need to know as “profound”. I think this is quite exaggerated. I know the education sector is behind with respect to teaching skills for the 21st century, but I do not believe the gap is profound.
I am impressed to find that one of the advisors for the Partnership is a member of the Department of Education, and relieved as well. I think the department, government officials, and educators need to work hand in hand to provide successful strategies and trainings for teachers to implement in the class.
I was especially impressed when I saw that many of the members were software companies. It makes so much sense, though! These companies are the ones making the new software that requires new skills to be taught in schools. If they are on board and supporting of schools, this will ease getting new media into schools.
I actually used the Partnership’s Plan of Action Interactive guide, Route 21 to get some ideas for my classes. The site shows examples of things one can do to address the different components of 21st century skills. It is wonderful!
Please check out the website for yourself, and let me know your thoughts on it!
I was surprised to read in the mission, that the Partnership views the disparities between what students learn in school and what they need to know as “profound”. I think this is quite exaggerated. I know the education sector is behind with respect to teaching skills for the 21st century, but I do not believe the gap is profound.
I am impressed to find that one of the advisors for the Partnership is a member of the Department of Education, and relieved as well. I think the department, government officials, and educators need to work hand in hand to provide successful strategies and trainings for teachers to implement in the class.
I was especially impressed when I saw that many of the members were software companies. It makes so much sense, though! These companies are the ones making the new software that requires new skills to be taught in schools. If they are on board and supporting of schools, this will ease getting new media into schools.
I actually used the Partnership’s Plan of Action Interactive guide, Route 21 to get some ideas for my classes. The site shows examples of things one can do to address the different components of 21st century skills. It is wonderful!
Please check out the website for yourself, and let me know your thoughts on it!
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Hi Marcella,
ReplyDeleteI loved your post. You summarized the ideas very well and made some good points about what you agreed/disagreed with. I like the picture you chose to include at the top of your post, "future." The future of our students is something that we really need to focus on. It is also important to come up with things that we can do now, in the present, to help better prepare them for that future.
I also liked that fact that all of these companies, the government, and educators are coming together to try and make positive change. It is good to have member of software companies as well because then the program will be kept up to date on the latest technologies and software available. I'm glad you found some ideas to use in your classroom. I wish I knew about this site earlier. I think it is beneficial for teachers to use it just as a resource for themselves and their classrooms. There is so much information about what students need to gain the 21st century skills, along with several links to other resources.
I agree with you that the gap of what students learn at school and what they need to learn is not profound. There is a gap, but we do already teach some of these skills. I think that we just need to learn how to weave things together using some of the new technology.
Do you have access to different types of technology at your school? If so, how could you use it to incorporate some of the 21st century skills?
Marcella I also am interested in their mission. I agree that government officials, and educators need to work hand in hand to provide successful strategies and training for teachers to implement in the class. But I first feel that they have to change their current assessment and focus on standardized tests. Currently teachers are pressured by tests so much that it has limited them in the time needed to learn how to use some of the new technologies out to use in their classrooms, and it has limited them when it comes to creating new lessons that will effectively use 21st century skills. Schools are not pressuring the teachers to teach using these new skills, because schools are driven by the their test scores, so they are more worried about test taking skills. This has greatly hurt education in the U.S., and is a major reason why we are currently falling behind when it comes to teaching with technology and using 21st century skills.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that has to be done in schools is they have to come up with ways to provide resources to all schools. Schools with available resources will use them, and their students will be better for it. But what about the schools who do not have the resources, do their students just fall behind? Doesn't seem fair.
Marcella,
ReplyDeleteYou post provide a fantastic summary of what the website had to offer. I also found that there were many useful resources that can be applied into the classroom. With the pressures of districts being not focused on technology, it can make it difficult to put an emphasis on technology when we are pressured to have students do well on the standardized tests. By having this group, working on 21st century skills, it is a step in the right direction to help increase student's awareness of the world around them.