What+is+21st+Century+Learning?

//The rate that content is being created in today's world simply outpaces our ability to learn it in twelve short years---which requires a different approach to "mastery" on the part of tomorrow's teachers and students.

Mastery in the 21st Century is primarily about learning to use technology to retrieve, evaluate, synthesize and manage information---and (more importantly) to network with other learners. "Digitally prepared children" will know how to use web-based tools to create, communicate and collaborate around areas of personal and professional interest. They will be creators--rather than simply consumers---of information.// - Bill Ferriter

//**What is 21st Century Learning and Why Is It Important?**//
by Emily Vickery January 2008


 * What is 21st Century Learning?**

The core skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic remain the sole amino acids of education. Or do they? Although mastery of these core skills is important, we live in exponential times as advances in technology impact how we live, learn, work, play, and even form our relationship as 12% of couples married in the United States in 2005 met online [Farrell, Diana. "Ten Trends That Matter to Business." Fortune Brainstorm 2006. Aspen Institute, Aspen, CO. 29 June 2006].

Critical thinking and problem solving, communication, and self-direction have always been essentials in education. But today, these skills take on added importance in combination with technology as our work is developed and delivered digitally—from memos to X-rays. These advances propel a new literacy—digital literacy.

We have transitioned from a Web 1.0 world where the World Wide Web was a place to passively “find” information. Now, we are interacting in a Web 2.0 world with new tools—such as blogs, wikis, videos, and podcasts—where we are no longer passive but become active as authors who publish to a worldwide audience. For example, the use of YouTube in presidential debates attests to this phenomenon.


 * Some Web 2.0 Tools Explained**

BLOG: "Perhaps the most powerful Internet tool is the Weblog, or blog, an online journal that is continuously updated by its author or authors. Blogs are Web sites that facilitate instantaneous publication and allow for feedback from readers. They’ve been used to form professional development communities, both within one school and across continents." [From Teacher Magazine, The Blogvangelist, October 1, 2006]

WIKI: "A wiki is a communal, subject-specific Web site where users are free to add and/or edit content. When it comes to Internet-based collaboration, there’s nothing easier to use, according to teachers [Will] Richardson [who is a teacher and consult on Web 2.0 tools]. In schools, wikis—some of which are password-protected—enable groups of students, teachers, or both to gather content and share written work. Some classes create their own textbooks and resource sites." [From Teacher Magazine, The Blogvangelist, October 1, 2006] The word wiki comes from the Hawaiian language meaning quickly.

PODCAST: "Podcasting enables Web sites to provide visitors with audio and/or video recordings that can be listened to and watched at any time." [From Teacher Magazine, The Blogvangelist, October 1, 2006]

Not only is it about Web 2.0 tools, but it is also about how the digital exchange of information in local-to-global context has shifted 21st Century learning beyond core subjects to embrace a broader understanding of what students must know and be able to do in order to compete and collaborate globally.

//Partnership for 21st Century Skills//

The [|Partnership for 21st Century Skills], which is a “leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education,” has identified skills sets for 21st Century learning. [Note: Currently, six states have adopted the organization’s framework to develop their own initiatives.]

The Partnership’s skill sets go beyond core subjects to include:


 * Learning Skills and Information, Communication & Technology Literacy “The concept of Learning Skills acknowledges the need for students to think critically, analyze information, comprehend new ideas, communicate, collaborate, solve problems, and make decisions, while Information, Communication & Technology Literacy recognizes that technology is essential to realizing these learning skills in today’s knowledge economy.”
 * Global Awareness [Personally, I believe we need to expand the phrase “global awareness” to “global understanding.”] “The concept of Global Awareness acknowledges that students need a deeper understanding of the thinking, motivations, and actions of different cultures and countries in order to successfully navigate and respond to communities and workplaces extending beyond their neighborhoods.”
 * Financial, Economic and Business Literacy “The concept of Financial, Economic and Business Literacy responds to the growing demand on people to understand business processes, entrepreneurial spirit, and the economic forces that drive today’s economy.”
 * Civic Engagement “The concept of Civic Engagement recognizes that students need to understand, analyze, and participate in government and in community, both globally and locally, in order to shape the circumstances that impact their daily lives.”



//enGauge//

The [|enGauge] model serves as an exemplary framework for understanding what 21st Century Learning skills are as well as creating a roadmap for assessment and implementation.

//International Society for Technology in Education//

The [|International Society for Technology in Education] (ISTE) has developed standards for student, teacher, and administrative use of technology. The student standards were refreshed last year and now include creativity and innovation.



According to ISTE CEO Don Knezek in 2007, "In 1998, it was enough to define what students needed to know about and be able to do with technology. Now, we're defining what students need to know and be able to do with technology to learn effectively and live productively in a rapidly changing digital world."

Therefore, 21st century learning skills sets and standards have been developed so as educators do not have to recreate the wheel in revolutionizing learning in a digital age.

"As we move forward into the 21st century, it is up to us to identify the essential elements of current multi-literacies and promote them, to address the special characteristics of each of today's media and technology, and to create the personal and institutional flexibility to change and learn as the world does."

From [|Building a Framework for 21st Century Literacies]


 * Why Is 21st Century Learning Important?**

The RAND Corporation report //The 21st Century at Work: Forces Shaping the Future Workforce and Workplace in the United States// “examined three major factors that are expected to shape the world of work in the coming decades: shifting demographic patterns, the pace of technological change, and the path of economic globalization.”

The relationship between technological change and economic globalization is unarguable. Already we have witnessed in today’s technology-innovation economy that anything that can be automated will be. And, anything that can be outsourced will be. According to author Thomas Friedman, when multinationals 'outsource' work to developing countries, they typically not only save 75% on wages, but also gain a 100% increase in productivity.

What will set our nation apart from others is innovation and creativity— the keys to participating in and leading collaborations in business, finance, government, and education worldwide.

As Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano said, “United States economic growth in the 21st century will be driven by our nation's ability to innovate.”

Research studies and reports abound resounding a clarion call to the imperative of preparing today’s students for today’s innovation-technology economy.

Consider the following two reports from the National Center on Education and the Economy for the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce:


 * The //Sources of Innovation and Creativity// outlines recommendations for how education systems can nurture these qualities in students; and
 * //Tough Choices or Tough Times// underscores that the ability to be creative and innovative is crucial to a “good life, in which high levels of education—a very different kind of education than most of us have had—are going to be the only security there is.”

A part of that security is to nurture a sense of lifelong learning in youth, where they are self-directed and successfully adaptable to rapid changes.

According to former Secretary of Education Richard Riley, “The top ten jobs that will exist in the year 2010 do not exist today. We are preparing our students for jobs that don’t exist, using technologies that haven’t yet been invented, to solve problems that we haven’t even considered yet.” [U.S. Dept. of Education, KETC 03/07/99]

And, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10-14 jobs. . . by the age of 38.” [Number of Jobs Held, Labor Market Activity, and Earnings Growth Among the Youngest Baby Boomers: Results from a Longitudinal Survey. News: United States Department of Labor. 25 Aug 2006. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 26 Aug 2006 ]

Author Richard Florida in //Flight of the Creative Class// outlines that manufacturing will lose 500,000 jobs, while science and engineering will gain 200,000 and the creative arts will gain 400,000—visual arts, drama, music, and entertainment.

But, as we know, education is not necessarily about producing a highly-skilled workforce. Educator Carl Fisch in his blog post //21st Century Business Panel// wrote:

I want our students to be successful human beings – successful in their personal lives, successful in their work, successful citizens in the 21st century. To be both personally and professionally productive, to be a contributor to their communities and the world, and – yes – to be happy. But I do certainly think that part of that is helping prepare them to be successful in the world of work…