Part One

21 st Century Skills Preparing our Students for a Knowledge-Based Economy… November 10, 2009.

Today’s Objectives:
To ask some tough questions
To confront our concerns
To define what teaching and learning in the 21 st century looks like
To examine the “big ideas” about 21 st century teaching and learning
Inquiry
Questioning
To begin scratching the surface of Web 2.0 applications and technology
blogging

A Blessing
May your gift of teaching
Awaken minds to new ideas
And expand hearts beyond boundaries.
May your desire to educate
Evoke the unique gifts of each student
And the deep desires of each heart.
May your love of learning
Lead students to awe and wonder
At their participation In our sacred universe.
May your story-telling inspire
Imagination and Creativity
And your example lead those you teach
To be generous and noble.
And, as you bless your students on their way,
May you delight at the gift your life offers to the future .

What do you need to know when most of recorded knowledge is a
mouse-click away?
In light of this, what do our students still need to memorize?

How do we prepare our students for jobs that don’t exist..
… using technologies that haven’t yet been invented…
… in order to solve problems that we don’t even know are problems yet?

What does it do to the value of information when everyone is a producer and knowledge isn’t static anymore?

How do we balance safety and access in order to empower our students with such skills?

Are you ready for 21 st Century Teaching and Learning?
It isn’t coming…
It has already arrived!
And schools who aren’t redefining themselves risk becoming irrelevant in preparing students.
It is becoming difficult to envision the future because it changes constantly.
Learning has to make sense NOW because what we do now influences the future, as well as our past.

A Changing World…
Some statistics…
1 billion people on the Internet
57 million blogs, 1.7 million posts each day
50 new blog sites created every minute
“ None of the top 10 jobs that will exist in 2010 exist today.” (Richard Riley, Former U.S. Secretary of Education)
 How does this make you feel?

It’s Cellular!
Think of the number of phones with Internet capabilities…
Can that accessibility be leveraged in the classroom?
Not just for email or surfing the Net … but for mobile learning
Currently, the total number of text messages sent and received daily exceeds the total population of the planet…

Knowledge Creation
It is estimated that 1.5 exabytes (1.5 x 1018) of unique, new information will be generated this year.
That is estimated to be more than in the previous 5000 years.

Higher Education?
For students starting a four-year technical or higher education degree, all this means that half of what they learned in their first year of study will by obsolete by the third year.

What is Meant by 21 st Century Learning?
Skill matters
Allows one to continue to learning and make judgment about the meaning, adequacy and accuracy of content
Content still matters
To make sense of the knowledge-driven world
To gain more knowledge
But WHAT should we teach?
How much is enough?
ACROSS CURRICULAR AREAS

This kind of learning stimulates the IMAGINATION
It teaches:
How to construct meaning
How to make disparate information coherent
How to think critically and solve problems
How to judge what is relevant, accurate, right
One of the main goals of 21 st century learning is to promote CURIOSITY …

This kind of learning requires SOFT SKILLS
Valuing and embracing diverse ideas and people
Working collaboratively
Tolerating ambiguity
Possessing the resilience to bounce back after set-backs

If you had to create a list of essential skills for learning in the 21 st century, what would you include?

STUDENT LEARNING DIGITAL-AGE LITERACY -basic, scientific, economic and technological literacies -visual and informational literacies -multicultural literacy and global awareness INVENTIVE THINKING -adaptability, managing complexity and self-direction -curiosity, creativity and risk-taking -higher-order thinking and sound reasoning EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION -teaming, collaboration and interpersonal skills -personal, social and civic responsibility -interactive communication HIGH PRODUCTIVITY -prioritize, plan and manage for results -effective use of real-world tools -relevant, high-quality products

Mastery of Core Subjects:
English
World Languages
Arts
Mathematics
Economics
Science
Geography
History
Government and Civics
Interdisciplinary Themes: *Global Awareness *Financial/Economic/Business Literacy *Civic Literacy *Health Literacy

Why are 21 st Century Skills So Important?

What’s so Urgent?
High drop-out rates in Ontario
Even a high school diploma doesn’t signal that one is educated
Cultural forces (popular culture, the family), emphasis on standardized testing are having adverse affects on students today

It’s About Engagement
It is NOT simply about keeping our students entertained
Being simultaneously intellectually and emotionally connected
Purposeful reflection

Making it ALL Public…
Unless we are required to articulate our thoughts and feelings to others and receive timely and appropriate feedback from teachers and peers, most of us convince ourselves that we understand something even when we do not.
Peer review, peer editing  makes learning public and provides an opportunity for peer teaching
Critiquing others’ work helps students learn to provide civil and constructive feedback, receive criticism, internalize standards and criteria for excellence, and reflect on their own work in progress.

Ultimately, we want students not to please us or simply get good grades , we want them to please themselves by achieving worthwhile goals and reaching standards of excellence, thus becoming life-long learners.

Change is Hard…

Understanding the “Net Generation”
Also known as Millennials
Born in or after 1982
Technology means MP3, PDA, phones that do it all
Daily communication involves email, text messaging, blogs and cell phones
Academically diverse
Consumed by extra-curricular activities
Thrive in group settings
Tinkerers
Ethnically and racially diverse

Millennials Want to Learn…
With technology
With one another
Online
In their own time
In their own place
Doing things that matter

A digital immigrant is someone who…
A digital native is someone who…
Popcorn!

Multitasking / toggling
Multimedia learning
Online social networking
Online information searching
Games, simulations, creative expressions
Digital Learners Engage By…

21 st Century Learners Utilize…
Desktop computers with high speed internet
PDA’s, iPods, cell phones
Focused software
Learning and content management systems
Video, audio conferencing
Cameras, video cameras
Media production
Social networking sites
Time for planning, experimentation

7 Cs and Component Skills CRITICAL THINKING, PROBLEM SOLVING Research, analysis, synthesis, project management, etc. CREATIVITY, INNOVATION COLLABORATION TEAMWORK LEADERSHIP Cooperation, compromise, consensus, community building New knowledge creation, solution design, storytelling

7 Cs and Component Skills CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING Diverse ethnic, knowledge, organizational cultures COMMUNICATION, MEDIA LITERACY COMPUTING Effective use of electronic information, knowledge tools Crafting, analyzing messages, using technology effectively CAREER, LEARNING SELF-RELIANCE Managing change, lifelong learning, career redefinition

How Has Teaching Evolved?
Pedagogically?
Technologically?
In practice?
1900 2009

How did the previous image of the “Networked Teacher” make you feel? Write your response on the Smartboard. Limit your reaction to a single word.

The BIG IDEAS
Inquiry-based teaching and learning
Deep and meaningful questioning

New Teacher Roles:
Dispenser of Knowledge  Facilitator
Teacher  Co-learner or Collaborator
Script Reader  Curriculum Developer
Information Consumer  Information Producer
Soloist  Team Member
Isolationist  Community Builder
Flock Member  Educational Leader

Inquiry Based Lessons

Questioning

Powerful Questioning
If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I knew the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than 5 minutes.
Albert Einstein

What do you use the Internet for?
… personally?
… professionally?

This was revolutionary…
Efficient and uniform dissemination of knowledge
Fueled scientific, political and social change on a scale unlike any other invention in history

Today’s Revolution…
Social affiliations and networking
Being online vs. going online
The web as an application platform
Digital self-expression; defining and claiming of one’s voice

Specialized Language LOL <3 ^5 P911 2G2BT MorF ASL PRON CYO TTYL KPC CYE

Who Said It?
“ These (new digital) technologies are truly a gift to humanity and we must endeavour to ensure that the benefits they offer are put at the service of all human individuals and communities, especially those who are most disadvantaged and vulnerable.”

What’s the difference?
Our students are contributing to the collective knowledge of cyber space.

Are our students using this?
About 87% of kids (ages 12-17) use the Internet
55% of online teens use Social Networking Sites
33% of online teens share their own creative content online
22% report keeping their own personal webpage
Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project - http://www.pewinternet.org/index.asp

32% say that they have created or worked on webpages or blogs
19% of online teens keep a blog
38% of online teens read blogs.
19% of Internet-using teens say they remix content they find online into their own artistic creations .
Are our students using this? Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project - http://www.pewinternet.org/index.asp

Putting This into Context: April 2009 OSSLT Survey
99% have a computer at home
45% of time used for homework
55% of time used for other activities
93% of reading time at home allocated to websites, email and chat/text messages
95% of writing time at home allocated to writing on websites, email, chat/text messages

Consider this…
Recent research has revealed that students, in the span of a typical semester, will generate approximately 42 pages worth of work for all classes, whereas they will produce in excess of 500 pages in email and text messages.

The Benefits:
Collective intelligence  collaboration
Instant gratification
Non-hierarchical  democratic
Potential for passion; ownership
Open to the public  real recognition
Permanence  searchable resource

So… what’s the point?
A way to differentiate instruction
Promote engagement using various media
Free! (so these applications fit everyone’s budget…)
Students ALREADY know how to use these applications

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy Supported by Web 2.0 Applications

To Blog or Not to Blog…
Why would teachers use this tool?
To engage students
To assess writing
To evaluate writing
Why would students use this tool?
To demonstrate learning in a familiar environment
To make meaning

Part One

by ChrissyYCDSB

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

1 Embed 1

Statistics

Part One Presentation Transcript