This is significant enough to me that I wish to share my full outline here.
Traditional methods of instruction are obsolete in the 21st century due to the fact that the amount of information available to today’s students is unlimited, and they know how to access it.
The role of a teacher now becomes not providing information, but filtering information, teaching students to be responsible and critical users of information with the following skills:
- Validation
- Synthesis
- Leveraging
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Ability to solve problems
People need to be able to create, evaluate, analyze, apply, understand, and remember information.
Some of today's forms of creation are new: blogging, podcasting, programming; some have been used before: animating, planning, recording, designing.
Technical skills are also important: paraphrasing, attributing, subscribing, editing, twittering, experimenting, reflecting, tagging, commenting, searching, posting, locating, linking, integrating, networking, bookmarking, mashing, uploading.
Ethical values are also needed: responsibility, reliability, and integrity.
New tools and learning problems are needed to teach these skills and values.
Lessons need to be relevant, challenging, and engaging.
21st century tools should be used to engage, not entertain.
| Engagement | Entertainment |
|---|---|
| Active | Passive |
| For learning | For enjoyment |
| Long-term results | Short-lived |
| Meaningful & applicable | Does not require relevance |
| Solves problems | Allows escape from problems |
| Uses creativity of the participant | Uses creativity of others |
Teachers should provide meaningful and powerful engagement that is fun and exciting.
It all starts with ME, with the help and encouragement of colleagues.
