21st Century Learning

Today’s students are part of a digital generation. This video emphasizes the change in learners as they are now digital natives. Students today are collaborative, globally connected, creative, and innovative. In order to reach them, our methods must change in order to engage students and become a part of their “learning space”.

We must use technology to teach or we can’t reach our students. Plain and simple.

This video displays powerful information using students and white boards. Love the format of it! It emphasizes how students are 21st century learners. They text, email, listen to iPods, play games, and in order for us to relate to our students, we must become a part of their worlds. Teachers must establish a learning environment that engages collaborative learning through technology.

This video provides a strong visual picture of the inadequacy of our educational system. By using real-life examples, it displays how a traditional classroom setting, excess spending on non-essential items, and countless hours of listening to lectures, is not providing them with information that is relevant to their lives. It expresses how students are frustrated with being trained for jobs that are no longer going to exist, and how they are inheriting problems that they will not be prepared to solve.

Learning must be connected to the “real world” and experienced in a social, rigorous setting. Teachers must begin to think outside the box and move away from traditional visions of desks in rows and textbooks as the curriculum. In order for everyone in the educational system to move forward, we must remember that we are all learners. Even though students still need essential content that includes science, math, etc., we must look at how technology can assist all members of the learning community. Educators must also adapt to authentic and performance based assessments that models how students will be evaluated in the real-world.

This video provides visual facts about how outdated and behind our country is in global society. It also addresses the progression of technology and future expectations.

Being literate requires more than being able to read and write, but “rapid decoding of print and non-print text, pictures, music, sound, and written text”. This video states that the 21st century requires us to communicate in many forms outside of tradition through technological resources that allow us to interact with one another. A majority of voters believe our country is not preparing our youth for the 21st century and these skills are essential for our country’s future.

Our educational system is preparing our students for a simulated world of the “Industrial Revolution”. We must make students masters in written and oral communication, so that they can be successful in any career. We must INTEGRATE and utilize the content to teach the necessary skills, not view content as separate from the skills. Students must also experience the connection between the curriculum and real-life experiences and occupations now, not when they graduate.

This video reinforces the need for integration as a tool for instruction. Educators should not discard formal instruction and assessment, but coordinate it with informal learning by enhancing students opportunities to immerse themselves in the content utilizing the numerous digital media resources available.

This video encourages teachers to become more engaged in their own learning by incorporating their favorite technologies into the educational environment. It was designed by elementary students.