This document discusses the skills needed for the 21st century learner. It identifies 8 common skills across studies: creativity/innovation, critical thinking/problem solving, communication, collaboration, information management, technology use, career/life skills, and cultural awareness. Each skill is further defined by specific abilities. The document also discusses how instruction needs to change to develop these skills through cross-curricular projects, collaboration, and varied learning. Qualities of 21st century teachers are identified as adaptable, visionary, collaborative risk-takers who continue learning and model behaviors for students through communication, leadership, and facilitating 21st century learning through appropriate resources, skills, and curriculum.
2. Introduction
21st century dawned as the beginning of the
Digital Age – a time of unprecedented growth in
technology and its subsequent information
explosion. New technologies and tools multiply
daily and the new technologies of today are
outdated almost as soon as they reach the
market. Numerous studies and reports have
emerged over the past decade that seek to
identify the life, career, and learning skills that
define the skills needed for success in the 21st
century world.
3. Common skills across most of the
studies include:
1.Creativity and Innovation
2.Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
3.Communication
4.Collaboration
5.Information Management
6.Effective Use of Technology
7.Career and Life Skills
8.Cultural Awareness
4. 1. Creativity and Innovation - Using
knowledge and understanding to create
new ways of thinking in order to find
solutions to new problems and to create
new products and services.
● Think Creatively – Create new and worthwhile ideas.
● Work Creatively with others – Implement and
communicate new ideas to others effectively.
● Implement Innovations – act on creative ideas to
make tangible and useful .
5. 2. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving –
applying HOTS to new problems and issues,
using appropriate reasoning as they
effectively analyze the problem and make
decision.
● Reason Effectively- Use various of reasoning as
appropriate to the situation.
● Use Systems Thinking- analyze how parts of a whole
interact with each other to produce overall outcomes in
complex systems.
● Make Judgments and Decisions- analyze & evaluate
major alternative points of view.
● Solve Problems- solve different kinds of non- familiar
problems in both conventional & innovative ways.
6. 3. Communication- communicating
effectively in a wide variety of forms and
contexts for a wide range of purposes
and using multiple media and
technologies.
● Communicate Clearly
- use communication for a range of purposes
and in diverse environments. Listen effectively to
decipher meaning, including knowledge, values ,
attitudes and intentions.
7. 4. Collaboration - working with others
respectfully & effectively to create, use
and share knowledge, solutions and
intentions.
● Collaborate with others
- demonstrate ability to work effectively and
respectfully with diverse teams.
8. 5. Information Management
- Accessing , analyzing, synthesizing,
creating and sharing information from
multiple sources.
6. Effective Use of Technology
– creating the capacity to identify and use
technology efficiently, effectively & ethically
as a tool to access, organize , evaluate &
share information.
9. 7. Career and Life Skills
- developing skills for becoming self-
directed, independent learners & workers
who can adapt to change, manage projects,
take responsibility for their work, lead others
and produce results.
8. Cultural Awareness
– developing cultural competence in
working with others by recognizing &
respecting cultural differences and social
backgrounds.
10. Information, Media & Technology
Skills
● Information Literacy
- Access and evaluate information
- Use and manage information
● Media Literacy
- Analyze media
- Create media products
● ICT Literacy
- Apply technology effectively
11. Integrating 21st Century Skills with
Content
Skills are about the thinking processes &
behaviors students will use as they learn subject
area content & work with others to deepen their
understanding of the content.
● Using technology to help students access,
analyze, organize and share what they are
learning & allow students to independently locate
appropriate tools for the task.
12. How should instruction change to Prepare
Students for Success in the 21st Century?
The 21st century skills are not really different. Plan
instruction with an understanding of the “ digital
natives”.
Instruction that meets the needs of today’s students
will incorporate:
● Cross- curricular connections
● Project-& problem- based learning
● Collaborative Learning environments
● Variety of learning opportunities & activities
13. The 21st Century Teacher
There are essential skills for the Digital learners
that teachers should consider in giving
appropriate activities & assessments to their
learners. We know too, that they must be 21st
century learners as well. But teachers are more
than this. Teachers, what are the characteristics
we would expect to see in a 21st Century
Educator.
14. Characteristics of the 21st Century
Educators:
● The Adaptor
● The Visionary
● The Collaborator
● The Risk taker
● The Learner
● The Communicator
● The Model
● The Leader
15. The Adaptor
The 21st
Century teacher is an adaptor.
Harnessed as we are to an assessment focused
education model the 21st
Century Educator must
be able to adapt the curriculum and the
requirements to teach the curriculum and
imaginative ways.
16. The Visionary
Imagination, a key component of adaptability, is a
crucial component of the educator of today and
tomorrow.
17. The Collaborator
Ning, Blogger, Wikispaces, Bebo, MSN,
MySpace, Second life – as an educator we must
be able to leverage these collaborative tools to
enhance and captivate our learners.
18. The Risk Taker
A 21st
Century Educator must take risks and some
times surrender yourself to students knowledge.
19. The Learner
We expect our students to be life long learners.
How many schools have the phrase “life long
learners” in their mission statements and
objectives. We too must continue to absorb new
possibilities and experiences.
20. The Communicator
The 21st
century teacher are fluent and tools and
technologies that enable communication and
collaboration. They know how to use different
media in communication.
21. The Model
The Digital teacher must model the behaviors that
are expected from their students. Today and
tomorrow more so, there is an expectation that
teachers will teach values.
22. Teachers also model a number of
other characteristics :
● Tolerance
● Acceptance
● A wider view than just their curricula areas
● Global awareness
● Reflection
24. Facilitating 21st Century Learning
ICT is an abbreviation for information &
Communication Technologies. This is a vast
variety of tools and technologies encompassing
personal computing, the internet, phones, fax and
everything in between.
25. Three Factors in Facilitating 21st
Century Learning
1. Resources
– physical & electronic tools and materials
available to the teacher in the classroom.
2. Skills
– skills, fall into technical and pedagogical.
3. Curriculum
-- integrating curricula that support ICT
integration are dynamic.
