Microsoft Partners in Learning Institute #3: 21st century learning and teaching

A second pre-assignment for Partners in Learning is to research and write about our views on 21st century learning and 21st century teaching, and to submit an artefact that demonstrates this. Well, I am very aware that we are living in a digital age where our students are incredibly digitally-minded, and of course education will have to start incorporating this more and more if it wishes to impact this generation. I am going to put an artefact here in the form of a You Tube video. This is the type of learner we will be dealing with in schools soon ultimately.


When I think of 21st century skills I think of core curriculum expressed in collaborative learning, project-based learning, with connections to the community, research-driven, using technology and multimedia. higher order thinking skills, interdisciplinary... I think ISTE's NETS STANDARDS sums up the required skills so well. http://www.iste.org/standards.aspx

To me 21st century teaching is about being relevant in the age in which we live. It is the social networking age, the age of collective intelligence that takes us so much further than we can go on our own, the age of giving, sharing and collaborating. Thus our education system needs to integrate these values and technologies with the curriculum and prepare our digitally-minded students for their future in a rapidly changing world. I have used this Ted video in another post previousy, but to me it just sums up our age so well, that I am adding it again!
http://www.ted.com/talks/gel_gotta_share.html) .


These twenty pointers from SimpleK12 come from one of their articles entitled ‘Are you a 21st century teacher? Find out”. I think this is a very thought provoking summary:
http://blog.simplek12.com/education/21-signs-youre-a-21st-century-teacher/

We are really living in exciting times!