The librarian of congress who supports 21st century learning talks about how education is changing and what needs to be done in order for all school systems to be on track with the change. The video starts off by explaining why 21st century learning matters. 21st Century learning matters because we are no longer live in the industrial era where all you needed to know was the 3 R’s (Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic). In the 21st century, the world’s work requires thinking, problem solving, synthesizing, communicating, designing, and developing new products. The video also answers the questions, what, how, and where will they learn 21st century learning.
What—they will acquire complex skills such as the ability to direct their own learning and adapt to a globally changing society.
How—by meaningful connections with teachers or mentors with learning that is relevant to their lives.
Where—with learning organizations: Classrooms, Jobs, and sometimes Cyberspace
431 employers surveyed and said that the students that are graduating from high school are not prepared for the workforce. High School graduates lack the ability to think critically and act professionally. In order for this to change, society has to change from industrialization to digitization by teaching students how to research, think critically, and use technology so they can explore various majors. This can be done by creating a foundation (information), exploration (career pathways), and application (community service and internships that relate to the student’s abilities).
The video starts off by showing a classroom in the 20th century compared to a classroom in the 21st century without much change (Students just listening while the teacher talks). Today’s students are different and incorporating clickers, cellphones, and other technologies will change the whole environment of the class because the students today are technology savvy, creative, and innovative.
Engage Me is a video about a few students from Robin Hood School, Birmingham who are giving reasons why they are 21st Century learners and would like to be engaged more at school using some of the technologies that the students prefer. The reasons were given with post cards held up from various students. Here are a few of the reasons: I use my computer every day, I surf on my PSP, I MSN daily, I Blog, and I love help buttons, it helps me become self-reliant.
This video focuses on students embracing the change in technology. It is the teacher’s and the school district responsibility to incorporate technology and make it fun for students to not only learn content, but to be creative and involved in projects outside of school.
This video basically explains the characteristics of students today. Here are some of the characteristics: I Facebook through most of my classes, I bring my laptop to class, but I’m not working on class stuff, I will read 8 books and 23 webpages, and I spend 3 and a half hours online.
The 21st Century Literacy video explains very briefly that literacy is changing and 21st Century skills are required. To be literate, decoding of print and non-print text is required and requires creative ideas communicated in new forms, for example, blogging or instant messaging.
Pay Attention is a video about why our students are digital learners by presenting statistics. For example, students spend 10,000 hours talking on cellphones, 20,000 watching TV, 2.75 hours a week using home computers, etc.
This video is about using technology to engage students to another level of thinking with the help of the district. Without the district, it will be hard for teachers to support their technology drive if the hardware and software is not provided.
