WHY is 21st Century Learning Important?

The evidence of widespread change is all around us — from the influence of the Internet, to the global economic structure, to the astounding pace of technology development and information exchange. Education has responded to these changes in many ways: Raising standards, implementing high-stakes tests, adding computers to classrooms, providing professional development for educators, even offering online learning and other alternatives to traditional schools. We urge our educators to work harder. We expect more from students.

Sadly, these efforts fall short.

Too many young people are left out or left behind. At least 30 percent of Colorado’s youth drop out before earning a high school diploma. Minority students bear the brunt of these dismal graduation facts. In 2004, only 56 percent of black students and 44 percent of Hispanics in Colorado graduated.

For those who succeed in school, too many are ill prepared for the challenges ahead. Americans are losing ground on international measures of academic excellence and workforce competitiveness. Employers and citizens agree that today’s graduates lack the skills and content currently in demand.

In truth, we cannot respond effectively to the sweeping changes of our times by patching and tweaking our grandparents’ education system. We need a comprehensive plan to bring education into the 21st century.

A Metaphor

Our educational system, like the Ford Model T automobile, was designed for the Industrial Age. We have retrofitted this classic vehicle many times. It seemed to work for our grandparents, our parents, even for us, although not as well as we like to remember — and not well at all for many. We work hard and pay a high price to keep this increasingly antiquated machine working. And, though the Model T still chugs along, it can no longer take all its passengers, today’s students, where they need to go.

We need to define what it means to be well educated today, while looking forward, not in the rear view mirror. We need a common understanding of literacy that goes beyond knowing numbers and letters. We need a cohesive, comprehensive vision for education that is aligned with the realities of life and work in the 21st century.

Now that we find ourselves solidly in the 21st century, it is time upgrade the education machine to a model based on principles rooted in 21st century understanding of how the world and the mind work.

Start a Dialogue

What does 21st century learning mean for your child, your school, your community? Use the video link (above), as a conversation starter. What supports this new approach to learning? How do we deliver the goods? How do learning organizations work?
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Other Resources

If you want to start with some student perspectives on promote 21st century learning:

• Look at 21st century learning from the K-12 student perspective, with an emphasis on technology as a key component to 21st century learning: http://learning2cn.ning.com/video/video/show?id=703147%3AVideo%3A20506
  

• Look at 21st century learning from the college/post-secondary ed student perspective: http://learning2cn.ning.com/video/video/show?id=703147%3AVideo%3A18255
  

If you want to see what other 21st Century Learning groups are doing:

• Council on 21st Century Learning - Results from an ed conference in Colo. Springs, Colorado, are put together as a voice for the Colorado model of 21st Century education: http://C21L.org/
  

• The Partnership for 21st Century Learning Skills - an advocacy group that offers an outline of what 21st c. learning is and showcases nine states' 21st c. learning initiatives: http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/
  

• Learning 2.008 Shanghai Conference - very well documented record of a 21st c. learning conference in Shanghai of 2008: lots of videos, blogs, photos...very 21st c. technology/interactive. Emphasis appears to be on how technology is a key piece of this learning paradigm: http://learning2cn.ning.com/

• 21st Century Learning - an education vendor in Arizona that provides 21st century curriculum that fits within the framework of No Child Left Behind (NCLB): http://www.21-learn.com/index.html
• The 21st Century Learning Initiative - A perspective from Canada and the UK: http://www.21learn.org/index.php