Self-Evaluation

In my opinion the most important skills for 21st Century learning are critical thinking skills, communicating, collaborating, solving problems, and making decisions. The core subjects will still be necessary, but a shift to these higher level knowledge skills will be vital. Technology skills will be important to a new learning environment, but it will be secondary to the other skills. We still need to teach content, but in a different way.

Some digital tools that I will use to bring about 21st Century learning are VoiceThreads, Wikis, Blogs, Google Docs, and Web 2.0 tools.

I to plan implement many of the things I learned from this class. I have an excellent start on contacts for collaboration projects. I also want to use Blogs and Wikis with my students. Getting my students to think and solve problems is going to be a goal of mine.

I didn't create more than I consumed, but I had the chance to get a taste of several new activities and how to use them in my classroom.

The sharing in class was great--I enjoyed having a chance to hear what my peers thought about different topics. Hearing information from different perspectives is a learning experience in itself.

I enjoyed reflecting digitally and it was nice to get comments from others. I also learned from reading other people's blog. It is something I think my students will benefit from.

The time we had to explore new tools and read different information was helpful. Time went quickly, but I was glad I had an opportunity to look at some of the different technology and tools available. It was also nice to have the others share what tools they found. I plan to incorporate a "Share Your Knowledge Day" once a month so students can also tell their classmates about great technology sites and/or tools.

I have started to think differently about how students learn and how I can incorporate different activities to foster their growth. I also really like the idea that in the Conceptual Age we are getting back to High Touch and the need to empathize with others. How can putting people first be a bad thing.


My thinking has changed on what is important

Dan Schmit-Podcasting

Articulation, Participation and Citizenship-Podcasting as a Scaffold for Significance

Dan reinforced the idea that technology is secondary and the rich experiences are the things that are important. Teacher podcasts are nice, but there is great potential for students.
The best thing about podcasting and new technologies is that we have many audiences.
Academic Expression is vital and we need to look at problems differently and reach for significance. Students need to be aware of their audience, professional sound, roots in what we are studying, great podcasts aren't about us, planning--80% developing content, 20% Production. Podcast need to have interesting questions, explore unique angles and perspectives, weave a compelling story, show literacy, logically reason, writing and oral communication.

Charlene & Kevin--Empathy Sense
Your examples were great. The examples made me feel something and I was instantly connected. Empathy was one of the biggest discussions one weekend in my Master's class a couple of years ago.

Dianne and Molly -- Laughter Sense
In the conceptual age work and play are more acceptable. Games are bigger than the motion picture industry. Humor is very important and is an asset to a company. We need to have joy. I need to work on this area and laugh more often at school.

9 Principles for Implementation: The Big Shift

I remember hearing the part about that real change happens when there is personal ownership--that is so true for everyone. Starting at the top was something that struck me because our HS principal said he wanted to switch over to the Mac if all the students and teachers were going to be asked to do it and our superintendent also bought into the idea quickly. I think it is very true "people matter" and if you want to have change and be successful you need to have strong relationships.

First 3 Senses-Design, Story, Symphony

I liked Steve's Design presentation and how he showed the connection to our cell phones and all the designs. Teri and Julie's Story chapter review was creative and they used the story telling idea directly in their presentation. Julie and Sarah's Symphony sense showed how the human brain can decipher metaphors and a computer can't. Sarah told how the symphony with many instruments is so much more beautiful than if it were only one instrument playing.

It's Different! Learning through Networking

I was amazed that the studies showed that proficiency would increase from 50-75% because students are talking with each other. The comment about students feeling safe in your classroom so they feel like taking risks and not being ridiculed is something I definitely want to be sure of.

Keynote-High Concept, High Touch

A presentation on Ch. 3 from "A Whole New Mind"

Evolution to Right Brain

A picture that depicts the evolution of workers that may speak more

to the right side of your brain.

Collaborative Learning

Looking at sites with collaborative learning projects was very interesting. It took me a little while to get going on an idea for my own classroom, but I think I have a few decent project ideas that I can try next year. One of most exciting things that happened today was an email reply from a business teacher in Regina, Saskatchewan about wanting to do a collaborative project with one of my classes. She also said she could put me on contact with other teachers. I also received emails from several teachers all over Nebraska that are interested--this is going to be challenging, but very interesting. I am ready for change.

Teaching for Tomorrow-21st c

More and more technology is available for students, but it is secondary to the importance to problem-solving skills. We don't want to become a "highly educated useless person," skilled in doing school-related tasks, but lacking the abilities necessary to solve problems independently in a real-world environment. We need to shift in the way we present material students. We still need to teach the content necessary within a new way to learn real-world problem solving skills.

Six Word Story

In school forever and always learning.

Engage 21st Century Learning

After skimming the document “Engage 21st century skills,” I am beginning to understand how important it will be for teachers and administrators to change the way we have been teaching. We need to gain knowledge in the latest technologies so that we can prepare students for jobs we may not even know will exist in 5-10 years. There is so much more to being literate in today’s world than it was in the 1900’s (Reading, Writing, and Arithemetic)—students today need all those plus scientific, technological, global awareness, multicultural, economic, and information literacy. Students with lower income may be at a disadvantage with those students who have more economically. In return after high school many of the IT jobs pay 85% higher wages than others. It really made sense to me about the science and technology fields requiring many of the same skills. Science and technology is continuously changing and we as students and teachers need to adapt and be problem solvers. I have always known that I didn’t just teach software programs, but students needed to gain the knowledge of what a program could do for them and then be able to change every couple of years to updated versions or different platforms. Students should still be able to carry their skills over to any software and adapts. Many IT jobs pay 85% higher wages. Students with lower income may be at a disadvantage with those students who have more economically.

google for educators

Google for educators will be very useful. I found some new online typing sites that will be useful for the junior high students. The Google Calendar may also be nice for my family so we can be more informed on what each other has going on. I have used Google Earth before in class last year, but I need to download the Google Earth Pro since it is free to educators.

Century21Learning1st post

This is my first blog on 21st Century Learning. I am taking a class from Doane College and hope to be more informed on how to prepare my students for the future.