21st Century Skills-A Review

I recently had the pleasure to look at a website from an organization called 21st Century Skills. I though that it was a great website and I am happy that I got to see it. You can find it here... http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/ It is a well designed site with lots of information pertinent for educators.

What is on the site? Of course the mission and purpose of the organization. Publications with information supporting their vision of educating students with the skills that will be needed for folks after they graduate.
The site also contains examples of teachers using their suggestions through video. There are dozens of videos available to look at demonstrating teachers in real world teaching situations. I looked at a few...very nice and very informative.
The site also had over 500 resources linked directly to their site with a rating for each.

I was surprised that the website actually had a few articles from publications that were in direct disagreement with the premise of 21st Century Skills. I didn't expect to see that. I tried reading one of them, but the link took me to a site that I had to be a member...and I wasn't going to register.

I did not disagree with anything on the site. Believe me, I made an effort to find something that I would disagree with, but to no avail.

Implications for my students and myself? Many. The fact is, the world is changing. We are becoming more and more technologically advanced. We also rely upon technology more than we ever have. If our students are going to be successful when they graduate, they are going to have to learn these skills. the website gave me lots of ideas that I will use in my classroom. The explanations 21st Century Skills gave to their ideas are fantastic and easy to follow...so long as you are at least a little technologically minded yourself. Check it out for yourself!

Winner

How I will use my blog in my classes...

I teach 11th grade Sociology in a small rural district in west central Ohio. As part of the class, I have had my students write an article analysis about an issue that deals with Sociology. On the day it is due, we usually have a classroom discussion about the article. It serves as a starting point about an issue that students may or may not have experience for.



Instead of having the students write a paper about each issue, I could have the students read an article and I could blog my thoughts on the issue as a starting point. Then, students could respond with comments, questions, and other issues that may come to their minds. By using blogs in this way, I believe students would become more engaged in the discussion. The web is a useful tool in this regard as students are sometimes shy about sharing face to face with their peers. Also, this exercise would teach students what I am learning now, how to use blogs for educational purposes rather than what they most commonly use them for, social networking.

Second Blog

This is the first post of my second blog. I have a blog on my school's network, but it does not allow RSS feeds. This is for my Master's Class.