From the Web:: It’s Not About the Tools. It’s About the Skills

This is a great post from the Langwitches Blog about technology in the classroom. So often when I talk to teachers they talk about the technology rather than which skills the technology is helping develop. Check out the images at the bottom of the post. These fun and colorful designs will go a long way to help non-techie teacher types understand the usefulness of tech tools in the classroom.

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  Langwitches Blog » It’s Not About the Tools. It’s About the Skills
  
  tags: langwitches, skills, web2.0, technology
  
  
  

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

VisualBlooms

• VisualBlooms - home

  Here is an excellent way to look at Bloom's Taxonomy using Web 2.0 tools. Icons from popular web-based tools make it easy to see which tools can best be used at each level.

  tags: Blooms, web2.0, bloomstaxonomy, 21stcenturyskills

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Preparing for the 21st Century

What do we need to do to prepare our students for success in the 21st Century? Here's a suggestion via Angela Maiers' blog.

To Meet the Demands of a New Age from Steven H on Vimeo.

More Evidence for 21st Century Skills

Today's Boston Globe has more evidence supporting the idea that students need different kinds of skills for today's workplace. Teaching Students 21st Century Skills shows yet again, that today's workplace skills are beyond reading, writing and arithmetic.

"Mastering those skills means learning how to think critically and creatively, work collaboratively, use the Internet to do research, and communicate clearly and effectively. Students also need to be responsible and accountable, to be up on the news, and to have a workable knowledge of economics and business."

So much of what we do in tested content areas encourages rote memorization, that I fear we are losing sight of the needs for these skills. We need to adapt our teaching to address these needs.

More on 21st Century Skills

It seems that I can't get away from these 21st Century Skills. This week, EdWeek published an article on 21st Century Skills. This is the third time in a week that I have run across something about this topic. I find many of the ideas exciting, especially the part about the need for global awareness. I wonder how quickly these skills will be embraced by the k-12 education institution in the US.

Still More on 21st Century Skills

This Linda Darling-Hammond interview from Edutopia gives much food for thought. Check it out.