Examining 21st Century Skills

Discovering the website, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/, has been an eye opening experience for me. This site features articles, resources and skills-related information about utilizing 21st century technology tools. The site is easy to navigate and has a tremendous amount of information on the role of education and the incorporation of technology into our schools. The home page gives a brief overview of the latest published articles while a navigation bar on the left of the page offers easy links to indices within the site.

The organization, comprised of several well known and respected US companies, such as Apple Computer, Sisco Systems Inc., Dell Computer Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, the National Education Association as well as the US Department of Education, was formed to "provide an online interactive tool that demonstrates how 21st century skills can be supported through standards, professional development, assessments and curriculum and instruction". Over 5000 members have joined this free, on-line organization.

One article, I found especially interesting, focused on the evolution of education throughout the ages. From an agrarian society to a industrial society, education changed to meet the ideologies and philosophies of the people. Education has also reflected our "growing understanding of how people learn." These concepts and the use of technology into our everyday lives has created a rapidly changing network of skills needed for success in life.

There are other informative and instructional resources found on this website. It is well worth your time to peruse and discover all that Partnership for 21st Century Skills has to offer.

Using Blogs Safely in the Classroom

Blogging has so much potential to be used in the classroom. I can use this powerful tool to share information with parents and students. I can communicate assignments, share daily classroom activities and provide links to other sites that will enable my students to explore and learn outside the classroom.

The virtual world of the internet has opened up so many windows of learning opportunities for our students today. They are able to learn from so any different sources, some reliable and others not. Students are able to learn about any subject they are interested in just by typing into a search engine, like Google, NetTrekker, or Quintura. How reliable or safe are these sites? I suspect that Google is probably the most widely used search engine. But I have "Googled" words or phrases and the search has (sometimes) revealed websites and images that are inappropriate for children, especially young elementary age children. NetTrekker and Quintura have screened websites and when searched, reveal sites that that are age appropriate and information appropriate for students.

I believe that as educators, we need to expand the world of our students, but we also need to monitor the resources that they access for reliable content and age appropriate information.

Begginning Blogging

This is my first blog. I will be blogging about furthering my education by getting my Master Degree at Walden University. With my degree in Integrating technology in the classroom, I want to be able to enhance my teaching skills with technology.