This week I explore the first and sixth ISTE Coaching Standards through the Digital Education Leadership program at Seattle Pacific University. Through my studies, the terms “21st century skills” and “21st century learners” continue to pop up. These phrases have been used in abundance over the last decade, but what do they really mean? And how do I, as a school librarian, help incorporate them into the classroom? In an effort to succinctly articulate my musings, my question this week is as follows:
What are 21st century skills and how can they be incorporated into the classroom in a meaningful way that enhances the curriculum?
Before I can explore the implementation of 21st century skills, I needed to pause and illustrate what a 21st century learner might look like:
The National Council of Teachers of English define a 21st century learner as someone who is able to:
- Develop proficiency and fluency with the tools of technology,
- Build intentional cross-cultural connections and relationships with others so to pose and solve problems collaboratively and strengthen independent thought,
- Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes,
- Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information,
- Create, critique,
