The Framework for 21st Century Learning
A focus on creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration is essential to prepare students for the future, and now. How do we incorporate these skills in our classroom and why are they so important?
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You need to develop a good understanding of these concepts as they will be essential in developing your lessons. They are the "verbs" that Marc Prensky discusses.
Learning and innovation skills prepare our students for post-secondary life. Teachers can promote innovation by encouraging their students to create new ideas, communicate their ideas with each other, brainstorm the feasibility of real-world application, and treat the creative process as a long-term development. This is one example of how there is a need to be “real” not just relevant in the classroom.
Students should be encouraged and prompted to use various critical thinking strategies, break down complex ideas, and analyze and critically reflect on ideas presented by experts and peers. Teachers should present opportunities for students to decision-make and problem-solve. They should learn what questions to ask in order to find the solution they desire.
Rhetoric and general communication skills should be addressed in the classroom. Students will need to understand how to communicate for a variety of purposes. It is important that students learn to compromise, share, lead, and collaborate effectively with others in order to be successful in the future. This type of learning should happen in the classroom because it prepares students for their future and their post-secondary goals.
There are many ways to incorporate creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills into the classroom. Starting with creativity, teachers must demonstrate originality by having children draw ideas from their own experience and research. Teachers must help students to understand creativity and innovation is long term and it will evolve each day. Students must understand they will encounter big and small mistakes, accomplishments and even setbacks in the classroom. Students have to gain a love and respect for all of their work. Students should take pride in every piece of work they complete. Critical thinking skills can be incorporated in the form of questions. These are questions used to make judgments and solve problems. Teachers should teach student to effectively analyze and evaluate evidence, arguments, claims and beliefs. This will help students to recognize bogus websites and false information online or in books. Students should be taught to synthesize and make connections between information and their real life. Critical thinking skills will be necessary in the classroom now and later on in life. Communication and collaboration are also key for the 21 century classroom. Students must be able to clearly articulate thoughts and ideas using oral, written, and nonverbal skills to teachers, peers and any other group members. These communication skills will be used to inform, instruct and persuade in future conversations and presentations. Student’s should have access to multiple media and technology and the teacher will judge if it is effective or conducive to learning outcomes. Students will be placed in groups to collaborate with people of different strengths and weakness. Students should be able to work with people with different passions and talents other than theirs and still work effectively. Students should be flexible in groups, adapting to the needs of the members. Everybody in the group should be contributing to the project and respecting each other’s input to produce a cohesive project.
These skills are fundamental for a student’s education in the classroom. Students must master all of these skills to effectively use technology. These skills will equip students to be more competent in the use of technological tools. These skills will also help them to be better group members and citizens. These are important skills that they will take from the classroom into everyday life.
I believe that it is important for the students to learn the 4 c's because it will prepare them for any obstacle they face in the future. I believe that in the future every person will be expected to have these skills. Just like today when applying for a career you are more than likely expected to have a college degree, people in the future will be expected to have mastery of these skills.
If a teacher implements the flipped classroom structure, then in their classroom there will be evidence of collaboration and communication everyday. I didn't think or know of that type of approach, but i really like it and want to try to implement it when i start to teach. There will also be evidence of critical thinking among the students.
Another way that i like to try to have my students thinking critically and creatively. Is to have the students create their own math problem. This allows them the freedom to create it however they want and be imaginative, while also showing a strong understanding of how to solve that type of problem. A little encouragement for the students to really think creatively about it, is to tell them that if it is a good question, then it may be used on a quiz or test. This way they create a good question, thinking it will be on the test and they will already know how to do it because they created it.
Incorporating the skills of creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration is exactly what Presnsky is doing in the idea of a Partnering classroom. A students creative and critical thinking skills are utilized to their potential when they are in charge of creating their journey. Although teachers can help guide them through open ended questions and direct them to where they should be ending up, the student is responsible for acquiring and analyzing information. This can be done through a variety of methods and technologies that appeal to the student. Collaboration and communication skills are developed and used when students are working on projects together, grouped by ability or interest, and rely on each other for feed back and guidance. These skills are also incorporated through the teacher giving the student options on both the ways to reach their goal, and also the way in which the student(s) present their information and show that they have actually reached their goal. When given the opportunity to decide for themselves, students may follow a traditional route, but since there is so much freedom, chances are they won't. They will question each other, combine and critique ideas, use technology they are familiar with, and seek out technologies that may work better for them. I feel that with my subject area of English the 4 c's will be easy to implement since literature is so subjective and means different things to different people at different times of their lives.
It seems everyone feels the same way about why it is important for students to master the 4 c's. These skills set the foundation to be successful in the real world. They allow the students to apply them to real life problems and to find the answers. The 4 c's bring to mind the difference between real and relevance. If the students are presented with real problems it is easier to apply the 4 c's to the task. They will have a better grasp on how to apply a formula or theory and understand why they are using it.
Through partnering, students can unlock their creativity and critical thinking by being given the chance to find their own ways to answer a question. In the real world, bosses will give their employees questions or tasks that will require them to find creative ways to present their findings to the company or the public.
It is important students learn communication and collaboration because they will required to work in teams or partners at their jobs. Everyone has their own ideas and views on certain topics so when they work together they can learn from each other.
It seems everyone feels the same way about why it is important for students to master the 4 c's. These skills set the foundation to be successful in the real world. They allow the students to apply them to real life problems and to find the answers. The 4 c's bring to mind the difference between real and relevance. If the students are presented with real problems it is easier to apply the 4 c's to the task. They will have a better grasp on how to apply a formula or theory and understand why they are using it.
Through partnering, students can unlock their creativity and critical thinking by being given the chance to find their own ways to answer a question. In the real world, bosses will give their employees questions or tasks that will require them to find creative ways to present their findings to the company or the public.
It is important students learn communication and collaboration because they will required to work in teams or partners at their jobs. Everyone has their own ideas and views on certain topics so when they work together they can learn from each other.
The 4 C's are a set of skills that go beyond the simple classroom expectations that we have of students, such as completing their assignments and engaging in discussion. They focus on the skills required in real world applications and for the students to use in their futures outside of the classroom.
Communication is such a vital experience that does not just mean communicating verbally anymore. It relates to the need that we are now communicators through the internet, with discussions taking place all around the world. Our students have the ability to join these conversations taking place on blogs and debate websites across the world.
In addition, communication is important because in order to successfully collaborate one must have communication skills. The ability to discuss, critique, and develop any collaborative piece requires a strong level of communication. Communication can be done via e-mail and Twitter, while collaboration is accomplished through shared documents (Google Docs).
Creativity asks students to create a piece of work that is not only original, but gives them nearly unlimited choices in how to express themselves. The days of just relying on essays or PowerPoints for so many assessments have long past. In history classes I have asked students to use comic strips, role play, sing, perform puppet shows, and whatever else they could think of for just one assignment. Another option in a social studies classroom would be to allow students to join in on world conversations and stake their claim based on their work and research. Overall, being open to students different types of creativity in any medium is key in the classroom.
Critical thinking calls on students to utilize more higher order thinking skills to question, criticize, and interpret history. History is an open book for interpretation and students should be able to criticize it instead of just accepting the facts. Createdebate.com I felt was a site that allowed them to think critically on major topics of history and voice their opinions on matters that are relevant to today as well, such as nuclear disarmament.
Creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration are so important because they are the tools of the future. These skills are necessary for students to be successful. They are not content-based – they can and should be taught and used in all classrooms regardless of subject area. Partnering is the perfect platform for our classrooms because it promotes these ideas. We’re not spoon-feeding the students anymore; we are allowing them to be creative and think for themselves. They communicate and collaborate with each other (or even with people outside the classroom!) to solve problems, form opinions, and create. This is so relevant in life outside the classroom because no matter what career path you choose, you will always have to work with other people and/or communicate with them.
There are many students who are having difficulties learning in the classroom because their academic needs are not being met through traditional teaching. Teachers are taught in college that it is important to use differentiated instruction for a diverse group of learners. There is a lot of controversy about the specific strategies that teachers use which are not helping students learn successfully. Research shows that activities which include cooperative learning, peer-group learning, and differentiated instruction are very effective instructional strategies. Through using these strategies, students are able to collaborate with each other and share ideas on class concepts and topics. Students who work together on class activities usually perform better than students who work independently. What is interesting about interactive learning is that students are engaged and become motivated to learn. I think one problem found in society today is lack of motivation among students. Usually students are performing poorly in class because they do not want to learn. Teachers need to make sure that their students are learning information that they find useful and can express the information in an interesting way. If teachers do not consider using these strategies, then the number of students at-risk will increase and they will be less likely to succeed in life. The goal for teachers is to prepare students for the future. For example, in college students are always involved in collaborative and group activities which are important skills for any profession. So introducing these skills in the classrooms now is probably the best thing to do to help students succeed.
The learning process is all encompassing. Of course we must learn the 3 R’s (“reading~riting~rithmatic”) as they are the foundation of all education. We however must not ignore that human kind has long surpassed the industrial revolution and has expanded to a global, diverse and inclusive world. Life and career skills must be enhanced. Knowing how to do things that are related to the day to day routine are as important if not more important that learning complex math. The use of technology will develop different ways to implement these methods of teaching. While guiding a student to academic success you can teach skills that include collaboration, creativity, communication and critical thinking, which are the 4 C’s. The 3 R’s and the 4 C’s can be enlaced by creating group study and projects, which will also encourage brainstorming. This innovation will catapult the learning process and keep our student competitive.
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