As teachers we hear all the time that students need to be prepared for the 21st century. But what does that mean? What is the 21st century? We have been living it for the past 12 years and boy has it changed. I would like you to take a minute and look at the website below and the article, as I will be talking about them both.
The website:
“The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a national organization that advocates for 21st century readiness for every student. As the United States continues to compete in a global economy that demands innovation, P21 and its members provide tools and resources to help the U.S. education system keep up by fusing the 3Rs and 4Cs (Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity and innovation). While leading districts and schools are already doing this, P21 advocates for local, state and federal policies that support this approach for every school.” (www.p21.org)
The website is easy to navigate and offers a lot of information. There are so many links that the page offers, I could see a person getting lost if they are not confident internet users. I suggest opening a few pages, one with their home page. I also suggest using the “back” arrow to help you get to where you came from.
I loved that they offer webinars. They are my new favorite learning tool. You can view webinars even after they are done. This is a nice tool, as many teachers teach during the day and cannot stop teaching to “go to class.” Archived webinars can be found here: http://www.p21.org/component/content/article/2-publications/1020-artsmapresources
The webinar is just over 57 minutes long and is about the P21 art skills map.
The webinar is just over 57 minutes long and is about the P21 art skills map.
The website is updated with latest new stories that are relevant to their site.
There are easy to get to tabs on the top “overview” “tools & resources” “state initiatives” “events & more” and “about us”
FAQ can be found here: http://www.p21.org/overview/p21-faq This is an important link if you were like me and not quite sure what P21 offered/was about.
Information that surprised me:
Under FAQ, I liked how it was so easy to read and laid out. This question and answer I felt I needed to share:
Why do students need 21st century skills? Every child in America needs to be ready for today’s and tomorrow’s world. A profound gap exists between the knowledge and skills most students learn in school and the knowledge and skills they need for success in their communities and workplaces. To successfully face rigorous higher education coursework, career challenges and a globally competitive workforce, U.S. schools must align classroom environments with real world environments by fusing the three Rs and four Cs.
One more thing that many people are not familiar with is S.T.E.M, I know until this week I was not!
STEM Initiatives: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Initiatives and the P21 framework are mutually supportive. A technically competent scientist in today’s world must have the ability to communicate and collaborate and be effective in all skills in order to be successful. All students, even those pursuing non-technical careers, benefit greatly from math and science. In fact, STEM are a very effective way to acquire the full gamut of knowledge and skills.
I was also surprised by the amount of information this website offered. So much information that it has taken a few days and different times to visit this website, I suggest that people take time with this website. It offers so much for teachers, parents, and the youth of our nation!
Information that helped me have a better understanding of issues that surround the 21st century skills:
Besides a lot of what I listed above I found the link for educators to be helpful. http://www.p21.org/tools-and-resources/educators Everything they have can be downloaded into PDF and is FREE!!! Teachers, FREE!!! The information is very good. I have not read them all, I have read a few of their offerings. I suggest you take a minute and explore the site.
I was also surprised at the “big names” that are affiliated with P21. Apple, NEA, Dell, Verizon, just to name a few.
It is nice to see that companies support and want to educate our youth with the here, now, and future.
Information I disagreed with:
I honestly do not think that there was any. I am disappointed that Montana is not on the list of states. I also cannot believe that until this week I did not know about this information!!!
The implications for students and teachers:
WOW!!! Where do I begin? Again, I cannot believe that as an educator I did not know about the National push for 21st century skills.
Most of us know the 3Rs – Reading, Writing and Arithmetic (core subjects)
But do you know of the 4Cs?? Critical thinking & problem solving; Communication, Collaboration; Creativity & innovation.
But do you know of the 4Cs?? Critical thinking & problem solving; Communication, Collaboration; Creativity & innovation.
The 3Rs need some help and the 4Cs can do that! When they work together great things can happen. We are not in a one room school house anymore (Ok, only 30 miles from where I live there are 2 of them!) we are in a place where there is technology and technology is feeding our youth. We as teachers and parents need to help foster this.
The 21st century requires a different set of skills than what we were taught. The world is changing. Let us help our youth.
Check out this for a better understanding of the 3Rs and 4Cs- http://www.p21.org/about-us/press-kit
Overall P21 wants to make better people for the world. They want to make students stronger, students who can compete in the 21st century. The real world is technology. With the help from P21 schools can achieve great things.
The article:
I have to say the first thing I noticed when I read the article “A report and mile guide for 21st century skills” I did not get far before I felt old. Page 2 stays they started in 2002. That is the year I graduated high school and SO MUCH HAS CHANGED in the world of technology.
The article is lengthy; however, if offers great information. The index is nicely laid out and a person could easily navigate to what he/she would like to read about.
I am not going to go in-depth about the article. I will say that you should download it and read it when you have time. It is easy to read and extremely informative. I still am in aw that I did not know about this information until this week. If anything read part 1 “Defining the need for change.” The first paragraph keeps you wanting to read more and find out how P21 and YOU can help!
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Overall, please take a minute to check out this site http://www.p21.org/ and let me know your thoughts.
I just browsed the website briefly and already I am amazed. So much has changed in what seems like such a short amount of time. Technology is always changing so quickly these days though it seems. I can see how useful this information would be for educators and parents alike. I hope teachers and parents realize this also and utilize it! It's hard to think of where education and technology may be in another 10 years. Great job on your blog and including useful websites and articles.
ReplyDeleteKara-
ReplyDeleteThank you for your share.
What do you think has been the biggest change in the last ten years as far as technology and where will it go in ten years?
How will students, parents, teachers, people need to adapt?
Pru-
ReplyDeleteI agree that this site was very well laid out. The fact that the entire site was written in "plain english" was also nice, sometimes jargon gets to be too much and can be confusing, even for us teachers! S.T.E.M. was also mentioned by Thornburg in out videos this week, where he said that our schools need to support it more. I totally agree, because as much as I love music those four subjects are what will make America competetive again in the global economy. That to me is why we need to focus so much on 21st century skills. Thanks for the great post!
David-
ReplyDeleteI agree about the "plain English." It is very easy to read and follow.
I loved what/how Dr. Thornburg explained S.T.E.M. and the skills needed for the 21st century. There were things on his list that I did not think of.
I think music/arts need more recognition in schools, hopefully with the 21st century push this will happen!
Pru,
ReplyDeleteNice job of summarizing what the website was about. I really like the webinars, too. I am going to post the link onto my webpage at school as part of the technology resources available for teachers to check out. I have heard of STEM before because my school district has a STEM school within a school for the K-4 elementary. Not everyone gets to participate, so parents need to enter their child's name and then they are chosen using a lottery system. Last year about 200 kids were signed up with only 110 spots available. The program is doing well, so for next year the district decided they will use one of the elementary buildings to become an all-STEM school. I was teaching a graduate level literacy class for teachers and there were three teachers from the STEM school in the class. It was interesting to hear them discuss the dynamics within the school in terms of the children who were in STEM related to the students who were not. There were some issues with elitism among the students. I think that is one of the reasons the school board approved using one of the elementary buildings as an all-STEM school for next year. There are also some concerns voiced by some parents and teachers about STEM because it is so much more hands on and technology focused and they are worried that these students will not be required to read and write as much as their peers in regular classrooms. I don't know enough about the STEM program in our district to answer that concern, however, as a Reading Specialist I do know that there is a correlation between our reading and math scores on state tests. Those students who do poorly on the reading test usually perform poorly on the math test as well and that is because much of the math test is in word problem format. If a student isn't proficient in reading, they are going to struggle with other academics. I think it is a legitimate concern that our students may not be reading and writing as much in this type of program and if it is to be truly successful we need to ensure that we embed reading and writing into the STEM program and that includes teaching them critical analysis of both print and online information. Connecting STEM teachers to the resources on P21 would be important for our district.
Lauri-
ReplyDeleteWOW! I am so jealous of your STEM school. I think it would be fantastic to work in a school like that. I do see how it would have to been one school, not picking and choosing kids. That would make it hard and some students/families would feel left out or better than others.
I also sent an email to my staff with the links. Many had never heard of 21st century skills. I am glad I am not the only one!
I would love to know more and hear more about the STEM school. I hope you keep your blog after this class so we can keep in touch. You always offer great insight.
I attended a conference last summer for after school programs and it was based on 21st Century. I attended many STEM workshops and I implement STEM lessons into our after school program weekly. There are SO many resources out there for 21st Century skills and STEM, it is pretty easy to incorporate into our schools. I enjoyed navigating around the P21.org website. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteDLH-
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you are using STEM. It makes me happy to see it being implemented in a small school.