Wednesday, September 30, 2009

21st Century Skills

Wow, what a site for sore eyes! I am surprised at the information available for resources on the 21st Century Skills site. Want to learn a new avenue for 21st century technology skills? It is all there! I am fairly sure this Partnership is going to continue since the latest big-name companies to sign on are Walt Disney & Nellie Mae Education Foundation. They join an already stellar cast of Dell, Microsoft, NEA, Apple, Cisco Systems, and many others. You could say they have a reputation at stake, and will be offering nothing but the best for educators and students.

I wouldn't say I disagree with anything I found on the site for information. I was able to locate most of the links I wanted, although some easier than others. The information presented is clear and concise and tells it like it is. My problem with the site was in navigation only. I had to continue to backpedal and look under headings to find the information. I would really have liked to have hyperlink access directly to the documents or sites they mention. I am very interested in the new science and geography maps recently added, but I have yet to find them. I will have to visit the site listed as cooperating with P21 to check there. That is frustrating, because I do not always know where to look once redirected. I'm a point and click kind of gal, you know?!!

As far as using the site in a contemporary classroom, I think I will be able to use it for several reasons. The most notable is the impact the Partnership brings to the educational environment. I would like to see my own state, Michigan, added to the listing of State Initiatives along side many of the other Midwestern states. I will use the ideas from the Illinois and Wisconsin listings to start my own. Hopefully, I will be in the ballpark when Michigan finally is admitted. My students will be using web 2.0 tools, as I have previously blogged, to coordinate on homework and classroom discussions. I know the use of blogs, wikis, and podcasts will enhance their learning and contribute to their success in the 21st century job force.
anyway, those are my thoughts, not yours...feel free to leave yours!

4 comments:

  1. I agree with you on some of the information being easy to find and some of it not. I think that a big part of what I think about a website has to do with how easy it is to navigate on it. I thought that some of the information was hard to find because of having to go back through all of it, also. If I was trying to find some information I had to look under each heading to find what I was looking for, which took more time than I wanted to spend. I am a point an click kind of gal too! It makes it a lot easier!

    Alicia

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  2. Thanks, Alicia! I suppose it boils down to time. If I am at a site looking for information I know to be there, I want to find it, FAST! I especially don't have time in my short prep time or at home before my kids go to bed, to do much searching and reading to find information. I need the direct link, or I will look somewhere else.

    As far as the rest of the site and the information presented and available, it is amazing. I am pleased to see such a high quality group of well-known contributors backing the skills needed in the classrooms of today. I hope Michigan gets in the game soon; it will make my arguments for change and progress much more convincing!

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  3. I was also impressed by the many big companies that are involved. They saw a need and are willing to find the solutions. I saw that there are some states that have signed on and I hope that many more schools will get the opportunity to become partners in this initiative.

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  4. Marie,

    I agree that the website encourages us to use Web 2.0 tools in our classrooms. The numerous P21 Snapshots on the page Route 21 (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/index.php) under the Tools & Resources tab give us clear examples and many additional resources and links to other educational forums. I even found myself on Edutopia.org, one of my favs, reading something I hadn't yet noticed.

    I also feel like all this critical thinking, real world application and problem solving based stuff that P21 preaches has been engrained in those of us who went to teaching colleges in the last ten years. We don’t have much of a problem taking our skills and tweaking them with 21st century skills and context. Am I right? Just a thought.

    -John

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