This document discusses three innovations that teachers should embrace to ensure students are ready to thrive in today's world: visualization, democratization of knowledge, and participatory cultures for learning. It advocates that teachers engage students in critical thinking using visuals like Gapminder, provide opportunities for lifelong learning by browsing reliable online resources, and use collaborative Web 2.0 tools like Facebook to actively involve students. The goal is for classrooms to advance 21st century skills through a balance of these innovative approaches and traditional skill-building.

1. Innovation Through Technology
21st Century Learning

2. What’s Your Responsibility As A
Teacher?
Ensure Today’s Students Are Ready to:
* Live
*Learn
*Work
*Thrive
In this high-tech-global-
highly
participatory world

3. Let’s fill up our tank with Innovation
“The Fuel for a Knowledge-Based Economy”
#1 visualization
#2 democratization of knowledge
#3 participatory cultures for learning.

4. Let’s engage today’s
students deep into learning !
Students need a balance to flow
(adaptive expertise)
50% skill building
50% Creativity

5. Innovation One: Visualization
• Develop students as informed consumers of
information
– *recognition of the potential for manipulation of
media
• Engage students in thinking critically and
creatively using visuals
– *Gapminder
• Engage students in communicating using visuals
– *contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity

6. Innovation Two: Democratization of
Knowledge
• -provides the opportunity for lifelong individual and group learning. For
students to leverage that opportunity fully requires critical thinking,
information literacy, and a measure of self-direction, all of which need to
be developed in part of our school systems.
Examples:
• Browsing the Net-Providing intensive work with students on informed searching,
navigating the visible and invisible Web, critiquing websites to check for reliable
sources, persevering to ensure comprehensive, balanced searches
• Learning Objects- Digital/Web based resource for use and reuse to support
learning
• Simulations-students are able to experiment with parameters behind a visual
simulation
21st century skills: rethinking how students learn/(edited by) James Bellanca, Ron Brandt.

7. Innovation Three: Participatory
Learning
• Web 2.0 tools of the 21st century have given
rise to a participatory culture
• Students expect to be active participants
Example: Use of Facebook to engage students to
learn about the periodic table

8. Does your classroom advance
21st century learning and student
engagement by embracing the
innovations of visualization,
democratization of knowledge and
participatory/collaborative learning?

9. References
• Text
21st century skills: rethinking how students
learn/(edited by) James Bellanca, Ron
Brandt.
• Pictures
Clipart from Microsoft Word