Wednesday, January 28, 2009
My Reaction to www.21stcenturyskills.org/
When I first started to browse the website, I felt a little overwhelmed. The more I browsed, the more I felt like I was looking at a web page that was created by a government or corporation that talks a lot, but does little. The main thing that I was surprised by was there are only a few lessons for teachers to help them teach 21st century skills. A majority of what is on the site is talking about how states and teachers need to incorporate these skills into the classroom, but it was very hard to find ways to do this. Overall, I would say the site is very informational, but a little confusing because of the massive amount of literature about how everyone needs to teach 21st century skills. I think this website is helping to start the movement of teaching 21st century skills, but I think it should take a greater part in providing lessons for each type of "core subject" that the site lists.
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Tony, I know I usually post to your blogs, but I really usually understand what your saying and really agree with it. I was also overwhelmed by the mass amount of information on the site, but also underwhelmed by the lack of it that applies to teachers. Do you think that if they made it more "teacher friendly" we would get more use out of it? I agree that these skills need to be taught and that working with a partner corporation would be neat, but does this website actually help us achieve this? I did not feel it did and am feeling better about it now that I have read your blog!!!
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ReplyDeleteTony and Arielle,
ReplyDeleteDid either of you find your way to the Route 21 section? It has videos, lesson plans and resources that support the implementation of 21st century skills. I think you would find it interesting and informational. It also appears to be just what you were asking for.
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/
Enjoy, and I hope it helps to clarify things.
Tony,
ReplyDeleteI agree the Partnership for 21st Century Skills organization website has an overwhelming amount of information. However, I believe it is really more of an advocacy based site, one were you can go to get credible information on the subject of 21st Century Skills. The information listed there is meant to support the initiative as a spring board of thought for school and government officials. As classroom teachers we can all do our best to incorporate these skills into our lesson plans, but with out the financial and supportive backing of government officials and school administrators teachers can only go so far. So, I guess what I am saying is that this information should be used to encourage those around us in the educational systems in which we work to sit up and take notice that a global shift is at hand and changes in the U.S. educational system are desperately needed.
Just a Thought
Tony! I agree that the website is lacking content behind its idea. The concepts would be easier to implement if teachers had more examples of exactly how to use it in content areas.
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