I believe the main idea for the 21st Century Learning venture is based on the fact that the world is quickly moving and already has, to digital learning. This resource is extensive and exhaustive; however, it does contain valuable information for educators. Again, although it was very wordy, the graphics and colors lend themselves to guiding the reader to specific educational sources. What was surprising to me was the fact that it mentioned several times of how core learning was still at the heart of education. I assume this should not have been surprising, but it made me realize as an educator, that although our world is digital, we must teach the foundations of our core subjects to our students before embracing 21st century skills. 21st century skills' authors understand this as well and seem to know the basic core curriculum is key before advancing to the 21st century. There are implications for me as a teacher. Rote memorization of facts and skills is quickly becoming a learning style of the past. 21st century learning requires that students understand technology as never before, that they are more independent learners and thinkers, and that they can solve problems with returning solutions. Wow! Therefore, I have to be trained for the 21st century, too. School districts must become aware of this advancement and their school boards must provide adequate training for their staffs. Is anyone out there already receiving training on The 21st Century Skills? Is there really such a thing? In our school district we teach according to a theme called "Learning Focused." This is similar. However, 21st century skills has more breadth and depth.
May 26, 2009 5:51 PM

Blogging in the Classroom

Blogging is very new to me, but there are some ways I plan to implement it in my classroom. First, I want to use it as a place to post assignments and other important links. Also, students can maintain eportfolios of their work. This would save on a great deal of paper work and disorganization would be minimal. Blogging will serve several purposes. First, it will be a resource that will help students critically analyze their work, based on the fact that the whole world evaluates it; and used as a digital tool to organize their thoughts. Additionally, I am hoping to provide my classes access to other students' writings in different cities or countries so we can all work together, creating pod casts, etc. This will happen soon...but not right away. After much instruction on how to utilize blogs and their safety, plus beginning with small uses such as posting assignments and links, will they be able to post content. I know that many of them may already be blogging and could teach me a thing or two, but I wish for them to have a desire to think critically through blogging, not just as a social tool. Further, blogging will enhance my lessons because we will get to interact with others all over the world. And, as an educator, I can learn a great deal from national as well as international educators. We can collaborate with our lesson plans by blogging about different pedagogies we used; ones that worked or didn't. I can post a lesson for an international teacher, while he/she does the same for me. Albeit I would take the ideas and plug in my state's standards. Blogging just makes sense in today's world. I can understand schools' reluctance for not encouraging it. After all, it's for everyone to see. There would have to be a safety program in place that would include permission slips signed by parents, and explicit rules regarding students' use of blogs. However, due to our digital age, students long for this sort of a different learning experience. I teach 4th grade and my content area is Language Arts.