21st Century Learning

1. Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
2. Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
3. Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
4. Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
5. Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts
6. Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments

The above list is from the NCTE definition of skills that 21st learners need. So how do we need to teach? How am I helping my students to become proficient at these?

The first one makes me laugh and mad. My experience with technology for students in the district I am currently teaching in has not been positive. I have only had one semester of positive use out of the 4 that I have been working on this program. So, no...I haven't been able to help my students become proficient with the computer. This year, I can't even teach my kids to log on, as the laptops don't seem to connect to the internet very well in my room.

To build relationships and collaborate across cultures this year is not even really possible in my own classroom as I have a fairly homogeneous class. There is only one aboriginal student and one student from another culture, but both are very "Canadian." So I try to work on the concept of collaboration. In my class, that means showing respect and listening to others...both very difficult to achieve in my room. But we are working on it.

We haven't done any sharing and designing of information to share with the global community as a class. I, however, have built up a website to keep in contact with parents. This has taken on a slightly "global" perspective, as I have a father who does not get to see his child often as a member of our website. I was also able to communicate with one child who was gone for an extended period of time. I filmed our class singing "Happy Birthday" to her even when she was far away at her grandmother's home. This grandma is still a member of our website so that she can continue to touch base with her grandchild.

Analyze, synthesize....are my students in grade one even capable of this? What are some pre-skills I should be teaching them? Same with critiquing. And, seeing as they haven't had the opportunity to create anything online, they also haven't had the opportunity to critique other's work.

The ethical aspect of an online culture is something I have addressed more with the parents as we have talked about what websites/games are appropriate or not for their child. Surprisingly (duh!) the one child that used to yell about murdering all of us and how he was going to do it, has since quit that language since his parents no longer allow him to play violent video games.

Anyways, I feel hopeless at times. These children are in the digital age and experience it in their own homes (at least some of them), but without the opportunities to use it at school, I feel my hands are tied in showing them, leading them, having them using the technology in globally cooperative ways.