Learning in the 21st Century

I've been reading quite a bit about the type of skills that our kids are going to need to succeed in the 21st Century and I find myself particularly interested in one of them, self-directed learning. Steve over at Teach42 had a post the other day called Book Learning or DIY Education that got me thinking about it even more. In his post, he states :

Let’s face it, at the end of the day our current testing system tells us precious little about how ready students really are going to be for life beyond the school building. And there’s so much that students learn in schools that just doesn’t get tested. What grade did each of you get in “Ability to find new solutions to unexpected problems?” I don’t remember that being on my school’s report cards.

What I have realized lately is that my state test only assesses content knowledge. So that is the only thing that most teachers teach--content. What it does not assess is critical thinking skills, innovation and creativity, collaboration skills, and problem-solving ability. So, guess what, in most classrooms these skills don't get taught. This runs counter to the thoughts of corporate leaders, authors, and organizations focused on infusing 21st century skills into the classroom.

Unfortunately, preparing for the state test often leads to a traditional, teacher-centered approach. Kids learn that their teachers are the source of knowledge instead of becoming self-directed learners--learners who see themselves as active participants in the creation of their own knowledge.

In preparing for a presentation that I gave this past Tuesday, I reflected on the work my kids have done this year, researched the possibilities of Web 2.0, and found other examples of best practices with the Read/Write Web. What I discovered is how well a project-based approach centered around technology helps develop the skill of self-directed learning. In creating a multimedia blog entry or wiki page, students are forced to look for resources that best serve their needs. By linking to another page, they must make sure that the page has accurate information that, once again, supports their needs. All of this helps them develop critical skills that will stay with them long after they have forgotten the content.



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Self-Directed Learning: A Perfect Example

So on the same day that I post about self-directed learning I come across an article in the Christian Science Monitor called In Science Class, It is Rocket Science. It's about a science class in Texas that works the entire year preparing launch several self-made rockets. So you're saying you've seen this before and probably have done it in your class. But these rockets are different--they are launched to the edge of space!

Read the article, it's a perfect example of how to develop self-directed learning.

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NY Times article is comical

Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops

One of my parents sent me an email about this article. She said I might find it interesting. I did. I have so many thoughts about it that it's difficult to know where to start. I guess I'll begin with this quote:

"...technology is often embraced by philanthropists and political leaders as a quick fix, only to leave teachers flummoxed about how best to integrate the new gadgets into curriculums."

Flummoxed. Perhaps this is the problem. What do you expect when technology is rushed into the classroom, with little training and preparation for the teachers --it is doomed to fail from the start. Put those laptops in the hands of a tech savvy teacher though and watch them have their kids do amazing things with the devices.

Here is another quote:

"...a survey of district teachers and parents found that one-fifth of Matoaca students rarely or never used their laptops for learning."

Once again, in the hands of a capable teacher students would be doing more than their share of learning.

And if we needed any evidence that flummoxed teachers have no idea how to use the laptops, we get this unenlightened statement from a history teacher at one of the schools:

“The art of thinking is being lost,” he said. “Because people can type in a word and find a source and think that’s the be all end all.”

Obviously this teacher doesn't feel the need to teach his students how to critically and carefully evaluate these sources. If he did, then his students would be improving their thinking skills, not losing them.

This quote also brings something else to mind: in the age of Google, is it bad that we can type a word or a name and find out something we didn't know before? With so much knowledge just a click away, doesn't that mean we should focus more on teaching problem-solving, creativity, innovation, collaboration, critical thinking, etc. instead of teaching our kids useless facts. If this is the way we choose to go, then the laptop is the perfect tool to help us get there.


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