The website for the Partnership for the 21st Century Skills is a site that includes information about the importance of skills and resources needed to implement technology into the classroom. After reading over several articles, the one that intrigued me the most was "Route 21". I was impressed by the number of companies like Dell, Ford, HP, Verizon and even the U. S. Department of Education that are partners involved to help the organization. The Route 21 link has many good resources or educators and administrators. I was disappointed in the number of states that are participating. It is necessary for every state to implement 21st Century skills into the classrooms. Our students need to learn these skills while they are in school, so they can be successful after they graduate and enter into the workforce.
Educators and students must change in order to be successful in the workforce. We need to think about the future and realize how critical it is for our students to be able to use technology effectively when they graduate. Not to say they can't learn after graduation, but it will be much easier if they leave school armed with the knowledge, instead of having to face the workforce with little or no skills.
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I was also really suprised that there were only about 10 states participating. I teach in Iowa and was pleasantly suprised to see that it is included. Iowa is currently in the stages of developing a core curriculum in math, science, and literacy. They have also included 21st century skills. We haven't started work with the core yet at our highschool but we will be in the next couple of weeks. I am anxious to see what will be included in it and how well our teachers and students will respond to the changes.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the Route 21 resources especially once you register and login. A few of the resources had broken links but there were lots of great websites and the browse options made them a bit easier to find.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like about the 21st Century Skill Framework is that it goes beyond technology use skills and emphasizes critical thinking, problem solving, innovation and creativity. All too often, I see school’s dedicating an excessive amount of time and resources towards rote memorization dedicated to doing well on standardized tests. These are not the skills and aptitudes students are going to need to be successful in the global workplace.
I was shocked to see just how few states were taking the initiative towards 21st century skills. I was sorry to see that my home state was not included. We have brought up the discussion at our school about getting students ready for "Information Age", but the topic of school budgets and AYP always takes over. The Route 21 link was very interesting and I plan I revisting quite often.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Gayla. It is never too late to learn about current technology, but it would be great if we could help our students BEFORE they graduate. One of our biggest battles is when students are taught basic computer skills the student says, "My dad doesn't know how to use a computer and he still has a job." This is something that we are trying to overcome in our district. We are trying to teach our kids that they do need to learn about technology, even if your parents don't know about it. We as teachers are fighting money issues and the belief of our students. We are making progress and it is getting better!
ReplyDeleteGayla,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading through your post, I definitely had similar feelings about the limited amount of states included on the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website. The skills included on this site shows how essential it is for our nation as a whole to be participating and educating our students how to utilize the 21st century skills needed to compete with the global workforce they will be faced with.
Kevin
Gayla, I found the website very interesting and resourceful, too, especially “Route 21” link. I was very impressed with the “snapshots” of the examples of lessons, which implements 21st century skills, in the classrooms. I also liked the framework; it is very helpful. Moreover, I was very impressed by the ITC Literacy Digital. However, what surprised me most is the small number of state participation. I think all U.S. students deserve to be prepared for the future through the 21st century skills.
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