21st Century Skills

Tough Choices

A follow-up to a previous post about my 9th grade daughter’s choices for classes for next year. Should she take Honors World History or the regular class?

The teachers had a curriculum night last week. It was a good chance to meet a couple of teachers and to take a look at the books used for the two options. I found out that the Honors class is basically an Advanced Placement class, but they can’t call it that. The books are both REALLY big and heavy (no wonder kids have back problems). The Honors book is very text based, and I think is a college level text. The class involves a good deal of reading, note taking, writing and tests. The class is like any AP class, preparing kids for the AP tests.

The book for the regular class included many more visuals, including graphics and photographs. I didn’t get many details about how this class functions, as the teacher who was there was an Honors teacher.

Neither course includes any online textbook, and the honors class uses very little outside resources (online or otherwise) and certainly never includes projects. In fact, the teacher looked down his nose at me when I even suggested such a thing. The online textbook will change probably for the class after my daughter, as I know the district is replacing its Social Studies curriculum. However, that doesn’t help her!

So, what to do? I need to email the teacher to get the textbook titles/publishers to see if we could find used copies or a digital version. If she had her own copy of the book, at least she could write in the book and wouldn’t have to carry the huge thing back and forth. My daughter loves history and social studies, and does very well. She deserves to have access to the higher level content of the Honors class. Yet, she’s not a kid that does well with strict, linear, traditional teaching. I’m not sure she’ll do well in an AP setting that is so focused on intense reading and regurgitating history facts and concepts.

She’s a visual learner who can express her learning much better in projects, like movies, performances, presentations than she does in tests. While yes, she needs to learn to write, does she need to learn to write for an AP test? Is this really a 21st century skill that will serve her best in her life? Are colleges really that focused on that kind of learning? Given what I’ve been studying for the last year, I’m not convinced that this is the best course.

Decision to be posted later.

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Paradigm Shift

One of the primary elements of 21st Century education is that it puts technology into the hands of students, rather than solely in the hands of the teacher. This is a paradigm shift for an educational culture which has put a teacher in the front of the room….

— Christopher John Russell in Practical Technology for Music Education available as an ebook from his blog, Technology in Music Education

How to Integrate

Interesting blog post by an instructional technologist about TPACK, a concept about how to integrate technology into instruction without being so overwhelming.

If I understand, this approach encourages teachers to take their existing curriculum and add appropriate technology – and just try. It might work, it might not. Just try.

Screen shot of interactive technology grid He points out a couple of interactive tools that allow for a progression of integration. The sites give ideas, tips, tools and lay it out in a step-by-step process. The tools he mentions are from The Florida Center For Instructional Technology at the University of South Florida and Northern Arizona University.

After a quick glance, these matrices seem to lay out clear goals to slowly integrate technology in the classroom. It’s not just about technology – it’s about 21st century skills, such as collaboration, creation and critical thinking.

Art Class is a 21st Century Class

I recently attended the 2nd trimester open house at my daughter’s high school. This is where parents follow their child’s schedule for  brief 10-minute “classses.” It’s a chance to hear from the teacher, including syllabus, expectations, etc.

As I listened to the Art teacher talk about the art exploration class, it occurred to me that Art embodies the essence of a 21st century skill:

  • Creativity:  students create original work.
  • Critical thinking and problem solving: Students are presented with an expected outcome and need to analyze how to get there. In this case, the teacher used the words “problem solving” when talking about assignments and process.
  • Communication: the teacher was clear that students are to see themselves communicating about something through their art – about themselves, an issue, a concept. In this case, students have to communicate without words.
  • Collaboration: students work on individual and group projects in this class.

In this particular art class, there isn’t even any digital technology!

21st Century Skills are cross all disciplines and are about more than the use of technology. Yet, art classes are almost always the first to be cut. Here’s hoping we soon realize the importance of these classes that encourage and foster these skills.