21st Century Skills Explanation

In conducting a few of the state required CFF observations the past several weeks, I came across the following information and thought it may be a good way to initially define the 21st Century Skills I have been writing about in this blog.  This is also in response to the comment from my last posting.  It is important to remember 21st Century Skills do not just include the technological skills as you can see below.

I copied this information directly from the observation tool I use for the data collection team at Penn State.   Please let me know if there are any skills you are interested in exploring in your lessons or would like ideas on how to incorporate them into your lessons.  Anita and I will work with you to develop those skills and then we will post the ideas here to share with others. 

It is exciting to see these skills being utilized in our classrooms.  Today I was talking with a teacher who brought an expert into his classroom via Skype, which required a computer and overhead projector.  This speaker was involved with each class during the day and provided an experience for students without any cost to the presenter or students.  I thank you all for what you do for our students each and every day.  There are so many exciting things happening at NHS and I am proud to be a part of it!   

21^st Century Skills Explanations
The brief explanations below are designed to help CFF observers know what to look for in order to identify instruction aimed at any of the “21^stCentury Skills” in the CFF list.

• Ability to Produce High-Quality Products: Look for evidence that the experience is help students understand the concept of “quality” and to strive for high levels of it.
• Creativity: Look for evidence that the learning experience is designed to help students learn to bring something new and original into existence. This can be new personally (original only to the individual) or on a broader scale.
• Cultural Literacy or Global Awareness:Look for evidence that the learning experience is designed to help students understand and appreciate similarities and differences between the customs, values, and beliefs of their own culture and the cultures of others (cultural literacy), or to recognize and understand relationships among international organizations, nation-states, public and private economic entities, or socio-cultural groups and individuals across the globe (global awareness).
• E-communication Skills: Look for evidence that the learning experience is designed to help students develop skill in communicatingusing any of a broad range of contemporary tools, such as, but not limited to e-mail, online chats, video or audio conferencing, web meetings, blogs, phones, or any Web 2.0 technology aimed at promoting communication.
• Higher Order Thinking: Look for evidence that the learning experience is designed to help students understand and operate at the higher levels of “Bloom’s Taxonomy,” using cognitive processes of analysis, comparison, inference/interpretation, evaluation, synthesis, and creativity.
• Planning, Prioritizing, and Managing Work: Look for evidence that the learning experience is designed to help students organize to efficiently achieve the goals of specific projects or problems.
• Scientific Literacy: Look for evidence that the learning experience is designed to help students develop the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision-making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity.
• Self Direction: Look for evidence that the learning experience is designed to help students develop the ability to set goals (perhaps related to learning), plan for the achievement of those goals, independently manage time and effort, and independently assess his or her efforts and any products that result.
• Social or Personal Responsibility: Look for evidence that the learning experience is designed to help students learn to promote the public good and protect society, the environment, and democratic ideals (social responsibility) or develop depth and currency of knowledge about legal and ethical issues, combined with an ability to apply this knowledge to achieve balance, integrity, and quality of life as citizens, family and community members, learners, and workers (personal responsibility).
• Teaming or Collaboration Skills: Look for evidence that the learning experience is designed to help students cooperatively interact with one or more individuals, or to work with others in order to solve problems, create novel products, or learn and master content.
• Use of Real World Tools: Look for evidence that the learning experience is designed to help students learn to use real-world tools (i.e. the hardware, software, networking, and peripheral devices used by Information Technology (IT) workers to accomplish 21st century work) to communicate, collaborate, solve problems, and accomplish tasks.
• Visual Literacy: Look for evidence that the learning experience is designed to help students interpret, use, appreciate, and create images and video using either conventional or 21st century media in ways that advance thinking, decision-making, communication, and learning.