Transition to 21st Century Learning

There is no single key in the transition to 21st Century Learning. The change requires coordination, collaboration, and technology skills combined with time to make the transition.

The coordination of 21st Century Skills embedded in the learning standards, I believe is the first step. Technology skills need to be taught in conjunction with the content to make them relevant to the students. The students, in turn, enjoy learning the content much more than old traditional ways.

Collaboration is required between all entities to sustain the change. Government,teachers, administrators,students, parents and community members are all stake holders. Money, training, and time are all necessities. The book said at least 5 to 7 years is needed to sustain change. The fascinating factor is that change is occurring so rapidly, it is hard to keep up! When I think back to TTL 1 & 2, the governor's program, we were learning Microsoft Office and we wondered how we'd ever learn PowerPoint and Word. Now, that's very old news! Instead, our students are able to use Glogster, Animoto, and Wikis and they do not even need to purchase software.

Technology is not a question; it is a must. When I think back to the first microwave, my mom said, "We have a stove, why would we need a microwave?" You know the answer to that question. The problem sometimes is providing students access to the technology. Some of my students still do not have access to a computer or the internet at home, so I have to provide enough time to complete assignments in class which isn't always easy when some workers are slow.

Transition takes time, but the payoff will be huge for our students. Another fact that stood out to me what that 50% of the time students should be project learning and 50% of the time should be for traditional, direct instruction. Reading, 'riting,and 'rithmetic combined with critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, computing, career, and cross-cultural is 21st Century Learning. "Learning for work and life in our times means helping as many children as possible learn to apply 21st Century skills and a solid understanding of core subjects to the challenges of our times"