21st Century Schools and 21st Century Skills
I read all 4 of the referenced articles for this assignment. I don’t know if it is because I grew up in a time where, in elementary school, the most we did on a ‘computer’ was use coding to create a graphic of a flower or something on the screen, or if it is just my common sense, but I have a problem with this focus on technology for the classroom.
Not that, before everyone panics, I am against THIS KIND of technology in the classroom. I am challenging, as they have done in the press, the emphasis on technology as a method of teaching and moving towards mainstreaming this type of instruction. I grew up having to rewrite my ‘handwriting homework’ over and over again until my parents were satisfied with it. This was VERY DIFFICULT, since I was born left handed and my parents switched me per the Pediatrician’s advice! I enjoyed going to the library, researching my topic, and going through BOOKS to find information. I enjoyed the intellectual banter that my family enjoyed at the dinner table and that I had with my peers throughout my academic life.
If technology remains a focus for instruction and how students do things for school (as projected in these articles), social skills will continue to decline, and people will no longer have a desire to interact and share ideas in the classroom setting. People may as well stay home, plug in (as many ways as they can), and call that ‘going to school’. Throughout history, there were individuals named as geniuses in their field; how many of them have been named as the one that is the best at finding everyone else’s information online and using it in as many ways as they want? With computers correcting everything students do, will anyone need (or want) to learn how to spell and write for themselves? Some students do not even know how to sign their names – they use their phone to text, the computer to write and compose, and only print their name at the top of something when they have to.
Despite all of our advances in both technology and so many other areas, I strongly believe that the most essential part of education is the personal interaction between students and teachers. You cannot experience the same high school life online as you can strolling through the halls of your school with your best friend. Computers, the internet – everything technical- is fed and/or programmed by PEOPLE. If schools no longer teach people to think outside of the box and create on their own, what happens next?
Class Assignments, Posts, and Homework | Michelle Gelrud | 
June 23, 2010 1:03 am
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By Tom, June 23, 2010 @ 6:16 pm
As an alternative outlook, I offer the following . . .
Please name the following structure:
-you cannot speak without permission
-you cannot leave your seat without permission
-you cannot go to the bathroom without permission
-you are taught the same thing as everyone else
-you follow the rules or are expelled
By Michelle Gelrud, June 23, 2010 @ 7:57 pm
I agree that school has had many rules, and still does have some, that make it like a prison. I agree with much of what is quoted in the article that you linked. I do, however, feel strongly that structure is needed as part of the educational process. Even identifying the parts of a structured school system that work and don’t work for each individual (schedules, best individual way of learning, procrastination vs working in advance, etc.) helps each student realize both their best way of doing things, as well as methods that may not work as well for them. I do not condone conformity, but I do endorse a social conscience and need to consider the interests of others.
An integration of 21st century skills into classroom instruction is a necessity; without it, we are not helping our students prepare for successful participation in the ‘real world’. I do, however, believe that some of the trends that are projected (with both fear and support from many sources) of self-paced instruction through technological educational means may lead to many other problems. Take, for example, online courses. While the student is provided with the basic curriculum, there is a lack of one’s ability to discuss, share, and interact with others within a classroom setting. Intent, mood, emotion and the basic message itself is often misconstrued in emails, discussion boards, text messages, etc. So while online classes do provide a method of instruction, it lacks in the personal interaction, social skill development, and ability to expand autonomously and as a group upon the content.
There is an obvious need to change the way that technology is brought into lessons and curriculum. I believe that it needs to be done with a focus on what students will get out of the lessons – just facts, or other skills, as well? In all of my TLP courses, there has been a focus on the fact that, as educators, it is our responsibility not only to impart knowledge to the students, but also assist in their growth personally, socially, and in additional areas that help them in the future as individuals. There is, however, the fact that when education began, teachers were left basically with an understood responsibility of assisting parents in raising children; that has definitively changed, and I am not condoning a return to 18th century education, stand and deliver instruction, or removing all technology from public education. I do, however, see a strong need to find a ‘mesh’ of education and technology that will allow students to learn, use current technological advantages, and be in a classroom setting (physically). Changing education to a 100% online structure or little interaction from the teacher (other than directing students to websites, for example) would be a great disservice to both education and the students being taught.
By Michael Jones, June 24, 2010 @ 2:12 am
Michelle, I enjoyed reading your reaction to 21st century learning skills. You raised some really salient points. I agree that social interaction is a crucial skill for any student to learn in order to succeed in life, and what better place than a school to hone these skills. However, I do feel that in order to prepare our students for success in the real world (as it exists today), teaching 21st century skills will be extremely important. In the professional world bottom lines are extremely important (for better or worse), and keeping things profitable often requires the use of new technologies. Technology serves as a means to streamline efficiency, and save time. Our students will be expected to utilize technology to aid in the profitability of whatever organization they work for. In this respect, 21st century skills become relevant. I am not saying that education should serve to increase corporate profits, but it should provide students with skills that will allow them to achieve the highest level of success possible so that they may have a high quality of life. In a technological world with growing global economic competition, not revising curriculum to include 21st century skills would be doing the next generation a huge injustice.