Evaluating
21st-Century Skills
Technology
is all around us. We live in a world
where new technology is being developed at record pace. As soon as you purchase the least and
greatest, you look up and see a brand new commercial advertising the next
latest and greatest, and two days later your newly purchased technology is now obsolete.
I
also have a godson who not even two years old yet, he is still in a diaper and has
a very limited vocabulary. When you hand
him his brand new mini-iPad, he can show you how to draw pictures and play
games.
The
website Partnership for 21st Century
Skills is an organization that is leading and supporting the advancement of
technology into the world of education. I guess I did not realize how much of an
impact educator’s Skills have in supporting 21st Century. I was also surprised to see the support of big
companies such as Apple and Crayola.
The
question I have is: Is there room or a
place for students will special needs? What
about students who do not speak English? In order to successfully implement 21st
Century Skills into my classroom, all initiatives will have to modified, and/or
adapted.
It is true that technology is rapidly evolving and that it is difficult to stay current with the latest new gadgets. It would be nice if technology corporations would share what their real latest new gadgets truly were so that teachers could prepare students for what will come. But unfortunately these are trade secrets and it would be a marketing mistake to give everyone the heads up for what will come. Many people may not buy the new iPhone if they knew that there were another three waiting to be released, or that there was a prototype of completely new type of mobile device waiting in reserve until there is no longer a sales benefit with the old versions.
ReplyDeleteIt is great that the Partnership for 21st Century Skills has big companies such as Apple Inc., Cisco systems, Intel, and Amplify as members. The knowledge and support available to them will ensure that students, teachers, and educational leaders have access to some of the latest technologies and resources. Through these technologies students will have the opportunity to cooperatively learn with other students from foreign countries to develop their 21st century skills, cultural knowledge, and language comprehension and development.
To integrate 21st century skills into a classroom with students who do not speak English, it would require a lot of modeling, demonstrations, and support. The same goes for students with special needs. Because 21st century skills are meant to be applied across all content areas students with special needs will have the same opportunities as they already have within their regular classrooms. The only major shift in pedagogy is the integration of information and communication technology in the classroom as well as a focus on relevant project based contexts.
It would seem to me that 21st century learning will provide more opportunities for students who do not speak English or students with special needs because they have access to more resources. Students who do not speak English can connect with learners from their home countries to establish their own support system and students with special needs can engage in powerful guided learning activities through the use of technology. Thornburg (Laureate Education Inc., 2011) has found that one of the major challenges faced today in education is changing pedagogy and curriculum to enable more collaborative activities to prepare students for entering the work environment. I believe that the Partnership for 21st century Skills understands the difficulties faced by all stakeholders within an educational community to adapt and transition through these changes. That is part of the reason why they have such an extensive support team and outreach effort.
It would seem that teaching and learning 21st century skills is something that is happening on a global scale. As a teacher in Thailand I too am trying to figure out how to instill these skills into my students, but regardless of whether I am ready or not, these changes in society are rapidly taking effect, and although there is still a long way to go, we are well on our way. If teachers in the United States want to help their students succeed in the future workplace, than it is important to instill these skills into their students. As described by Bates and Phelan (2002) today’s workers must not only have basic academic skills, but higher order thinking skills, teamwork skills, and high quality and effective personal work habits. Because students on the other side of the world are searching for the opportunity to show the world just what they can achieve, students in the United States need to be prepared for what lies ahead.
References
Bates, R., & Phelan, K. (2002). Characteristics of a globally competitive workforce. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 4(2), 121. doi: 10.1177/1523422302004002003
Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Skills for the 21st Century [DVD]. Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society. Baltimore, MD: Thornburg, D.
Val, There is so much technology and it is amazing how quickly students today are learning to use technology. I teach special needs students, and while some technological tools are not appropriate, almost all can be adapted in some way. For special needs students there is a great software program, called boardmaker,that can create interactive quizes, choice boards, communication boards, and allows students to select pictures to create a writing sample. There are interactive websites like govizzle.com which is very visual, can be down loaded as an app on android and apple products, and a great website called helpkidzlearn.com. I'd love to chat more about some options, if you are curious let me know! :) Liz
ReplyDelete