Partnership+for+21st+Century+Skills

Core subjects and 21st century themes: (Rachel)

What I have learned...

The core subjects include: The skills they have chosen to highlight are //**interdisciplinary.**// They include: 1. Global Awareness 2. Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy 3. Civic Literacy 4. Health Literacy 5. Environmental Literacy
 * 1) English, reading or language arts
 * 2) World languages
 * 3) Art
 * 4) Mathematics
 * 5) Economics
 * 6) Science
 * 7) Geography
 * 8) History
 * 9) Government and Civics

A resource I found and explored was: []

I read Tony Wagner's book that Wendy references this summer as well. FYI, he will be coming to Oakland Schools this March or April, I believe. In any case, Robert Compton is a friend of his. He has a blog you may want to check out as well, that you can reach from his website.

Reporting out pages: the assignment is to**: highlight a valuable resource you found or share something you learned about the framework.** __Life and Career Skills__: (Sandy) Project Resources (There we so many great tools and applications on this link..I could have "explored" for hours) [|Digital fluency model-how to use digital information] [|21st Century Skills book I ordered]
 * Resources: //(//**//There were so many...but I believe these might be helpful as we move forward-I'll keep reviewing the resources)//

Interestingly enough...there aren't any skills listed for future life and career skills that are content specific. The skills needed for future success are behavior/character based not necessarily knowledge based. My initial thought is how critical the learning environment will be to help develop these skills.
 * Thoughts**:

The skills needed are:
 * Summary:**
 * Flexibility and Adaptability** (//Personal Characteristics//): These include adapting to change and able to work with a variety of people/situations.
 * Initiative and Self Direction** (//Level of Independence//): This includes managing goals/time and being self directed.
 * Social and Cross Cutural skills** (//Communication and team work):// This includes working effectively with others.
 * Productivity and Accountability** //(Work ethic):// This includes managing projects and producing results.
 * Leadership and Rsponsibility (** //Leadership skills)//: This includes the ability to guide, lead and be responsible to others

__Learning and Innovation Skills__: Well, the 3 "R's" used to be the baseline for literacy...now we need to add the 4 "C's"--Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication and Collaboration. I think most of us know this, but what does it look like, smell like, sound like and taste like? This is the hard part. Our current system of education and TESTING is not in line with this way of thinking. Found a great piece that satirizes this...take a [|listen]. There are some great resources out there for this topic though. One is __Catching Up or Leading the Way__ by Yong Zhao. This is a link to an interview with him in [|Kappan].

Zhao writes about how the National Standards Movement, NCLB, etc., are killing our schools and how the countries we are trying to emulate with these standards (China, Korea, etc.) are actually working very hard to emulate us. He talks about the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, enGuage 21st Century, the Metiri Group, the ISTE standards, Daniel Pink's High Concept, High Touch Senses, and more. He talks about what schools can/should do regarding mindsets, policies and practices regarding technology use (ie., filters, cell phones). Zhao offers a model of what he calls Digital Competence (Virtual World = Web, Internet)

1. Knowledge of the nature of the virtual world a. Understanding the differences and connections between the physical and virtual worlds; the ability to tell fantasy from reality b. Understanding that the virtual world is dependent upon technology and that all technology can break and things can go wrong c. Understanding that online/virtual activities are fundamentally psychological d. Understanding data representation in the virtual world and how different media work together e. Understanding data management in the virtual world and basic file structures f. Understanding that the virtual world is a global network of individual and collective participants g. Understanding that the virtual world is evolving and constantly expanding

2. Positive attitude toward the virtual world a. Appreciation of the complexity and uncertainty of the virtual world b. Positive attitude toward technical problems c. Effective strategies to approach technical problems (knowing where and how to obtain assistance) d. Effective strategies to learn new ways of communication and information sharing

3. Ability to use different tools to participate and lead in the virtual world a. Ability to use different tools to participate and lead online communities b. Ability to use diffferent tools to entertain, learn and work c. Ability to use different tools to obtain and share information

4. Ability to create products for the virtual world a. Ability to use different tools to express views in the virtual world b. Ability to use different tools to create products (such as music, digital games) c. Ability to use different tools to create, manage, and lead online communities d. Ability to launch, manage, and promote businesses in the virtual world.

He also references the [|Harvard Digital Citizenship Project]

Another great resource is __A Whole New Mind__ by Daniel Pink. This was such a great read. Pink lays out the argument for how right brained thinking is the new "black" (think Tina Fey!). He identifies 6 essential aptitudes which he calls the 6 senses--Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning. His basic point is that these are "fundamental human abilities that everyone can master" and that in order to be successful in this changing world, we need to develop them. Botttom line, schools will need to teach in a way that develops and engages these senses.

The left-brain dominance in our culture since the Industrial Revolution has created this scenario. Here's how he summarizes it: "...three forces are tilting the scales in favor of R-directed thinking [right brain]. Abundance has satisfied, and even oversatisfied, the material needs of millions--boosting the significance of beauty and emotion and accelerating individuals' search for meaning. Asia is now performing large amounts of routine, white collar, L-directed [left brained] work at significantly lower costs, thereby forcing knowledge workers in the advanced world to master abilities that can't be shipped overseas. And automation has begun to affect this genreation's white-collar workers in much the same way it did last generation's blue-collar workers, requiring L-directed professionals to develop aptitudes that computers can't do better, faster or cheaper."

One last resource is Tony Wagner's book __The Global Achievement Gap__. He identifiies [|Seven Survival Skills] that people will need to be productive and successful. The book is interesting. Wagner interviewers several CEOs and other business types. What really struck me was the absence of the focus on Math.

There are so many different ways to attack this...I'll be back--real life is calling:)

[]

__Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes__:

__Information, Media, and Technology Skills__: Ok, so there really isn't anything we don't already know about this aspect. There are three main topics; Information Literacy, Media Literacy, and ICT Literacy. I believe one of the key points is getting our students adept at managing information and evaluating data which falls under the domain of Media Literacy. (Understanding how and why media messages are constructed and their purpose, examine how individuals interpret messages and how the media can influence beliefs, and understanding ethical/legal issues surrounding the use and access of media) I'm excited about Wendy's class because it is poised to be very successful in addressing the Media Literacy points. The ICT aspect (Information, Communications and Technology) piece is so important because of the communication portion; the idea of using technology tools to access information; to evaluate that information, communicate with others about it, and then collaborate to create something new is what our students need to have experience doing.

I did print off the article, The Intellectual and Policy Foundations of the 21st Century Skills Framework, and read it. It was very interesting and I believe it will be a great resource to utilize when creating our project because our beliefs and ideas go hand in hand with the content. I was especially interested in the career and life skills portion for students as we seem to be moving away from that aspect in education. The need for core classes and technology is never going away- but the key to the whole she-bang will be to successfully integrate the life and career skills into what we are focused on currently doing. AND to convince policy and lawmakers that those skills are just as important as the other two. KA

[|Partnership for 21st Century Skills--] The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has developed a unified, collective vision for 21st century learning that can be used to strengthen American education. The key elements of 21st century learning are represented in the graphic and descriptions below. The graphic represents both 21st century skills student outcomes (as represented by the arches of the rainbow) and 21st century skills support systems (as represented by the pools at the bottom):


 * Route 21**, a one-stop-shop for 21st century skills-related information, resources and community tools. To get started, [|Take a tour] or [|explore the P21 framework.]

The items included in this database reflect the Partnership’s first step in collecting 21st century-skills related materials in one place. Great resources with many links to other sites.


 * //Team Assignment//**
 * Working as individuals, each team member should take a section of the rainbow to learn more about -- then browse and explore the resources. Afterwards, come back here and highlight a valuable resource you found or share something you learned about the framework.

Please sign up for a portion. There are five of us with four areas so two can work together! Wendy=I think I'll go for Learning and Innovation Skills... Frank= Dale= Information, Media, and Technology Skills Sandy=I'll go for the Life and Career skills. This will bridge my two working worlds..transition and instruction. Rachel= Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes Katie= I'm going to hone in on Information, Media, and Technology Skills**