21st Century Teaching for 21st Century Students

1
21st Century Teaching for 21st Century Students

• Brad Fountain
• Discovery Education

2

• The illiterate of the 21st century will not be
  those who cannot read and write, but those who
  cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
• - Alvin Toffler

3
This is a story about the big public
conversation the nation is not having about
education whether an entire generation of kids
will fail to make the grade in the global economy
because they cant think their way through
abstract problems, work in teams, distinguish
good information from bad, or speak a language
other than English. How to Build a Student for
the 21st Century, TIME Magazine, December 18, 2006
4
Who are 21st Century Learners?

• As large in number as Baby Boomers
• Consumers- 150 billion annually
• Digital Media Users 6 ½ hrs daily (Exposed to 8
  ½ hours)
• Multi-taskers online - phone - print
• Hyper-Communicators -socially civically
• Gamers-interactive learning
• Risk-Takers
• Depersonalization
• Pursuers of ongoing education
• Futurists Optimistic
• IQ is up by 17 points between 1947-2001 with most
  gains post 1972

5
Are They REALLY That Different?

• 21st Century Students Brain
• Neuroplasticity
• 50 hours to affect change
• Video games
• Hypertext Minds
• Point to Point vs. Linear
• Breadth vs. Depth
• Environmental Impact
• Thinking Patterns
• ADD or Disengaged

Marc Prensky Digital Natives, Digital
Immigrants Part 2
6
Meet My Little Girl
Name Alex Age 3 1/2 About Alex Alex has never
been satisfied with simply watching characters on
TV. She craves interaction with her world. As a
result of growing up in a digital world her brain
is wired differently.
7
The long rise of IQs
unexpected and massive gains
genes have profited fromstrong feedback loops
between performance and environment
enhanced problem solving skills have become
necessary to fully enjoy enjoy our leisure
activity
Nov. 2007, James Flynn, Scientific American
8
How People Learn

• A research-based synthesis consisting of 30 years
  of educational research indicates
• participation in social practice is a fundamental
  form of learning
• learning is increased by a diversity of cultural
  experience and community participation

Brown, Ann L, Cocking, Rodney R Bransford ,
John D. How People Learn Brain, Mind,
Experience, and School. Washington National
Academies Press, 2000.
9
(No Transcript)
10
What Are 21st Century Students Missing?

• Critical Thinking
• Reflection
• Evaluation
• Linear Processing
• Personal Communication
• Meaningful Persistence
• Formal processes

11
Why 21st Century Skills?
Workforce Survey Are They Really Ready to Work?
Released October 2, 2006, by The Conference
Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families,
Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the
Society for Human Resource Management groups.
12
Why 21st Century Skills?
What skills are most important for job success
when hiring a High School graduate?
13
Why 21st Century Skills?
Of the High School Students that you recently
hired, what were their deficiencies?
14
Why 21st Century Skills?
What applied skills and basic knowledge are most
important for those you will hire with a
four-year college diploma?
15
Why 21st Century Skills?
What skills and content areas will be growing in
importance in the next five years?
16
So What Does this Mean for Teachers and Schools?
17
(No Transcript)
18

• If you are not prepared to be wrong, youll
  never come up with anything original. By the
  time students become adults they have lost that
  capacity. And national education systems are
  where mistakes are the worst things you can make.
  The result is we are educating people out of
  their creative capacities. - Sir Ken
  Robinson

19
New Definitions for Schools

• Schools will go from buildings to nerve
  centers, with walls that are porous and
  transparent, connecting teachers, students and
  the community to the wealth of knowledge that
  exists in the world while creating a culture of
  inquiry
• Teachers will go from primary role as a dispenser
  of information to orchestrator of learning and
  helping students turn information into knowledge,
  and knowledge into wisdom.

21stCenturySchool.com
20
New Definition for Students

• In the past a student was a young person who went
  to school, spent a specified amount of time in
  certain courses, received passing grades and
  graduated.  Today we must see learners in a new
  context
• First we must maintain student interest by
  helping them see how what they are learning
  prepares them for life in the real world. 
• Second we must instill curiosity, which is
  fundamental to lifelong learning. 
• Third we must be flexible in how we teach.
• Fourth we must excite learners to become even
  more resourceful so that they will continue to
  learn outside the formal school day.

21stCenturySchool.com
21
         Aliteracy Poem Mrs. Thompson's second
graders are amazing!  The principal says they can
comprehend anything-- Even a medical
textbook. Mrs. Thompson's second graders are
incredible!  The superintendent says their oral
reading is completely seamless-- Like the gentle
flow of an eternal spring. Mrs. Thompson's second
graders are fantastic! The PTA president says
they finished the reading workbook and the
phonics workbook before the end of the Third
Quarter.  Mrs. Thompson's second graders worry
me. You see, I'm the aide who works in Mrs.
Thompson's classroom, And I know something that
others don't. Mrs. Thompson's second graders
don't like to read.
Poetry for Literacy Teachers from "Life's
Literacy Lessons" by Steven L. Layne. Newark, DE
International Reading Association. 2001
22
(No Transcript)
23
Being Literate Today Means

• Finding the information
• Processing different media
• Decoding the information
• Analyzing the information
• Critically evaluating the information
• Organizing it into personal digital libraries
• Creating information in a variety of media
• Teaching the information to find the user
• Filtering the information gleaned

24
20th Century vs. 21st Century Learning
25
20th Century vs. 21st Century Learning
26
Search Engines moving toward video

• Four week period ending June 24, 2006
• 23,696 searches sent traffic to video sites
• Four week period ending June 23, 2007
• 110,775 searches sent traffic to video sites

YouTube other sites
-John Seely Brown
Hitwise, Phil Butler, profy.com
27
Other Cultures

• Korea
• Little time reading newspapers or watching TV.
  Life moves at the speed of the net and being
  connected is the only way to remain current
• Japan
• Laptops are viewed as dinosauric technology. The
  cell phone provides the privacy and instant
  connectivity individuals crave

28
What will the future hold?

• Future Forces Affecting Education

29
Putting it into practice.
30
Where do I Start?

• Back to School with the Class of Web 2.0

31
Tools of the Trade

• Online Collaborations
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Google Docs/Spreadsheets
• Skype
• Flickr
• Digital Storytelling
• Photostory 3
• Movie Maker 2
• Adobe Premiere Elements/iMovie
• Audacity
• Freeplay Music

32
Tools of the Trade

• Google Earth
• Podcasts
• VoiceThread
• Slideshare
• NewsMap
• Toondoo
• Surveys

33
What does it look like?

• Cross-Curricular Projects on the Web
• Johnny Appleseed Project
• Journey North
• Classroom Blogs
• Mr. Cs Class Blog
• The Secret Life of Bees
• Classroom Podcasts
• Room 208
• RadioWillowweb

34
What does it look like?

• Google Earth
• Grapes of Wrath Google Earth Littrip
• Coral Reef Temperatures
• Tree Coverage Percentage
• Wikis
• Vicki Davis
• Tim Frederick
• Technospud

35
How can I help my school?

• Professional Development Needs Assessment
• MILE Guide
• How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century
• enGauge
• Visions 2020
• Building the Perfect School

36
Some good reads

• Blogs
• 2 Cents Worth David Warlick
• Teach42 Steve Dembo
• The Strength of Weak Ties David Jakes
• Moving at the Speed of Creativity Wes Fryer
• Weblogg-ed Will Richardson
• Dangerously Irrelevant Scott McLeod
• Beths Thoughts on Technology in the Classroom
  Beth Knittle
• Books
• Tested Linda Perlstein
• Dont Bother Me MomIm Learning! Marc Prensky
• A Whole New Mind Daniel Pink
• The World is Flat Thomas Friedman
• What Video Games Have to Teach us About Literacy
  and Learning James Paul Gee

37
What Will You Do to Make A Difference?
Brad Fountain brad_fountain_at_discovery.com