Module 12 Exercise 3 Promoting Key Skills

Module 12

Exercise 3 Promoting Key Skills

Click here to read about Accepting Change

ICT literacy, critical thinking, and collaboration are three broad areas of core skills that should be developed in 21st century classrooms. However, the question of how to teach 21st century skills is best answered by describing the characteristics of learning environments in which learners can develop these skills. Effective learning environments for promoting 21st century skills often include the following core elements, all of which are also features of the Intel^® Teach Getting Started Course.

Thematic instruction: In thematic instruction, a set of exercises or activities
focuses on a big idea or broad concept. A theme allows for the application of a wide variety of skills and the deepening, integration, and development of new knowledge.

What could be considered the theme of the exercises or activities featured in Getting Started?

Relevance: Content that is relevant to the context of learners' lives leads learners to deeper engagement and deeper thinking. Relevance is enhanced by instruction that helps learners draw connections between what they are learning and how they can put the knowledge to use, especially in developing solutions to challenges facing them or their communities.

In what ways has the content featured in Getting Started been relevant to you?

Active exploration: learners are better prepared to acquire and remember new information, strategies, or skills once they have spent time exploring a challenge or problem for themselves—that is, without receiving explicit directions or answers at the outset of a lesson.

What opportunities for active exploration have been afforded to you in Getting Started?

Choice and autonomy: An environment that supports the development of 21st century skills provides learners with a measure of choice in the activities they undertake, the strategies and tools they use, and the creative aspects of their plans, projects, or designs.

What opportunities for choice and autonomy have been afforded to you in Getting Started?

Cycles of creation: learners' ability to use technology effectively, think critically, and collaborate meaningfully with others takes place best in a cycle of generating and improving their work—a cycle in which learners plan, execute, revise, reflect on, and share their insights about the product or solution they are developing.

What cycles of creation have you experienced in Getting Started?

Authentic feedback: In 21st century learning environments, learners work on activities or projects that have no single, specific answers. Instead, learners must assess their own work in relation to how well it serves the purposes for which it was intended. Feedback from teachers and peers helps learners improve their work and develop their own critical perspective on it. Learning to give useful feedback to others also develops a learner's critical thinking and collaboration capacity.

What opportunities for authentic feedback occur in Getting Started?

Teacher as facilitator: Rather than serving exclusively as an expert who provides information, the 21st century teacher facilitates learners' own research, development and application of skills, and creation of original work products. The teacher as facilitator helps learners actively build on their own strengths and incorporate their own interests into their work.

What examples of teacher as facilitator can be found in Getting Started?

The characteristics of 21st century learning environments described in this section are from SRI International's Review of Evaluation Findings for the Intel® Learn Program, available at http://ctl.sri.com/projects/displayProject.jsp?Nick=intellearn. Used with permission.

Next: Proceed to Exercise 4

Module 12 Developing 21st Century Approaches

	Module 12 Exercise 3 Promoting Key Skills Click here to read about Accepting Change ICT literacy, critical thinking, and collaboration are three broad areas of core skills that should be developed in 21st century classrooms. However, the question of how to teach 21st century skills is best answered by describing the characteristics of learning environments in which learners can develop these skills. Effective learning environments for promoting 21st century skills often include the following core elements, all of which are also features of the Intel^® Teach Getting Started Course. Thematic instruction: In thematic instruction, a set of exercises or activities focuses on a big idea or broad concept. A theme allows for the application of a wide variety of skills and the deepening, integration, and development of new knowledge. What could be considered the theme of the exercises or activities featured in Getting Started? Relevance: Content that is relevant to the context of learners' lives leads learners to deeper engagement and deeper thinking. Relevance is enhanced by instruction that helps learners draw connections between what they are learning and how they can put the knowledge to use, especially in developing solutions to challenges facing them or their communities. In what ways has the content featured in Getting Started been relevant to you? Active exploration: learners are better prepared to acquire and remember new information, strategies, or skills once they have spent time exploring a challenge or problem for themselves—that is, without receiving explicit directions or answers at the outset of a lesson. What opportunities for active exploration have been afforded to you in Getting Started? Choice and autonomy: An environment that supports the development of 21st century skills provides learners with a measure of choice in the activities they undertake, the strategies and tools they use, and the creative aspects of their plans, projects, or designs. What opportunities for choice and autonomy have been afforded to you in Getting Started? Cycles of creation: learners' ability to use technology effectively, think critically, and collaborate meaningfully with others takes place best in a cycle of generating and improving their work—a cycle in which learners plan, execute, revise, reflect on, and share their insights about the product or solution they are developing. What cycles of creation have you experienced in Getting Started? Authentic feedback: In 21st century learning environments, learners work on activities or projects that have no single, specific answers. Instead, learners must assess their own work in relation to how well it serves the purposes for which it was intended. Feedback from teachers and peers helps learners improve their work and develop their own critical perspective on it. Learning to give useful feedback to others also develops a learner's critical thinking and collaboration capacity. What opportunities for authentic feedback occur in Getting Started? Teacher as facilitator: Rather than serving exclusively as an expert who provides information, the 21st century teacher facilitates learners' own research, development and application of skills, and creation of original work products. The teacher as facilitator helps learners actively build on their own strengths and incorporate their own interests into their work. What examples of teacher as facilitator can be found in Getting Started? The characteristics of 21st century learning environments described in this section are from SRI International's Review of Evaluation Findings for the Intel® Learn Program, available at http://ctl.sri.com/projects/displayProject.jsp?Nick=intellearn. Used with permission. Next: Proceed to Exercise 4