Marks,+Susan


 * Use the course materials to help you respond to these questions for each Module.**


 * Module 1 Notes**
 * 1) What skills you think today's students will need to be able to live and work in the 21st Century? So many skills are needed, however, I believe of the highest priority are creativity, problem solving, critical thinking, and being able to collaborate with colleagues. These are not necessarily new skills, but their need is of the essence in order to be able to teach students to apply all learning to new circumstances i.e. a future that we can not even yet conceive of.
 * 2) How you are preparing your students to gain these skills? If you are not currently teaching: How are educators preparing students to gain these skills? I love project based learning and research projects. Over the past 4 years I have had the opportunity to collaborate with teachers in different disciplines to develop and teach projects in which students get to device their own areas of of interests and problems in which they wish to research and devise and suggested analysis and or solution. Whenever possible, the students have been expected to collaborate with one another and utilize Google Docs. In this way, SOME 21st Century Skills have been both explicitly taught and students have been encouraged to use and improve. However, there is so much more that I can do and would like to learn how to better implement given the opportunity.
 * 3) What is the difference between ’Foundation Skills" and "Functional Skills"? Foundation Skills are those that a person comes with that are transferable from one position to another. In contrast Functional Skills are more job specific and might need to be taught on the job.
 * 4) How well your curriculum and current instructional strategies are helping your students acquire these skill? If your are not currently teaching how well do you think our schools are using instructional strategies to help students acquire these skills? There is a lot of room for improvement. However, the best way to learn is by doing. I thrive on having the opportunity to teach new skills. My personal challenge is to find a collaborative teacher who is open to trying new things and in particular integrating more skills into their content area. Research projects, whether small or large, can be the ideal vehicle to teach and have students practice these skills. All of the lessons I have taught and the projects I have collaborated on with teachers integrate many, but not all of these skills. Much more is needed!
 * 5) Think about today's students and the potential professions they might go into. Which of these skills might each student need? How can we make sure that all students are prepared with the skills necessary to enter the 21st Century Job Market? \ Let me start with what should not be emphasized ... standardized testing . Teaching students that there is only one correct answer and that the answer is either a, b, c, or d is detrimental to our students. Instead project based learning and performance assessments are much more valuable to our students. It teachers them that what is important is creative thinking and problem solving, that the process is just as important if not more so than the result, and that their own creative ideas might be better than the "answers" that exist already.
 * 6) What patterns are beginning to emerge between the various resources you’ve been exploring? How do these skills compare with the list you made in question 1? Since the country and the world is changing so rapidly, we can not just teach the same way we have always taught. We are preparing students for an unknown future. Accordingly, teaching facts is not nearly sufficient. It is much better to teach students how to think and learn so that they can apply their skills in any situation and to become life long learners.


 * Module 2 Notes**
 * 1) How can we make personalized learning a part of our schools and classrooms? Teachers should act more as coaches: meeting individually with students, offering guidance, devising agreed upon individual goals.
 * 2) How do we help our students become real learners? First, we need to meet them where they are already at ... online and utilizing the technology that they use everyday. Furthermore, we need to engage them and expect them to be active participants in their learning ... by being producers not consumers. Technology can be used to ensure that students can take that active role by writing, collaborating, and interacting with classmates, teachers, and the wider community via the large array of options out there ... social networking, blogs, wikis, texting, skyping, and more.
 * 3) What is/should be the role of assessment in student learning? How can we improve upon our assessment practices in order to really help all students be engaged, life-long learners?  Assessment should provide both teacher feedback for how the teacher can improve and what the student needs are, but also should be immediately useful for students to use to guide their own goals . Providing students with time to self reflect and then to plan and act on these self reflections is essential.
 * 4) What is the role of e-learning, and how will/isl this change(ing) the educational paradigm? Young people are using "eLearning" outside of class, independently. In other words, they are already online and connected. Schools should capitalize on this and help to guide them to using these skills and interests for even greater learning experiences. Teachers should not be seen as the one knowledgable one in the room imparting knowledge, but as coaches guiding learning experiences that utilize technology to explore the world and to take an active part in the world ... producing content as they go along.
 * 5) How do your students compare with the 21st Century learners described in HotChalk’s article on 21st Century Learners ? If you are not a teacher: How do you as a student or your children compare with the 21 Century learners described in this article? The students I have worked with this last year are definitely digital natives ... they are constantly tuned in. They can take in a lot of information quickly, however, I would argue that sometimes it is at the cost of gaining a deeper understanding of information. For example, with the find function, students can get away with locating the one paragraph that their topic is mentioned and avoid reading a whole article. The result is that they are often missing the context and broader understanding of the topic.
 * 6) To what extent to you see your students (or your children, or yourself as a student) possessing the qualities shown on thegraphic on the wiki for the International School in Bangkok? If you see any gaps, what do you consider the reason for these gaps, and how might educators help students gain these skills and qualities? I see the students as having many of the qualities described but not all ... and I believe it is due to the education system not the students themselves.
 * 7) To what extent are you, your children or your students Effective Learners, Students are not given many opportunities to have a say in the learning process. They are very good at following explicit instructions, however, they have little experience in making learning their own and devising their own learning experiences. Accordingly, this inhibits learning how to learn and becoming a life long learner. Effective Communicators, As mentioned before, standardized tests and teaching to the test is the exact opposite of teaching students to "think outside the box." We are no longer teaching students to do so . and Effective Global Collaborators. This too is being taken out of the curriculum. However, I think the skills that students are gaining independently by being in communication with one another outside of the school setting is powerful and is brought into school.
 * 8) To what extent is your school (or your children's school) and classroom meeting these needs? Many teachers are doing some amazing things in the classroom. Always room for improvement.
 * 9) How might you rethink your classroom to make it a 21st Century classroom? What are the barriers you face to making your class a 21st Century learning environment? If you are not currently teaching how should classrooms be re-thought? I am lucky in someways not to have one classroom but many ... the library, the computer labs, other classrooms, the school and community as a whole. The down side is that I do not have one class of students that I can work with to consistently incorporate the skills that students want and need. That is my biggest limitation. Furthermore, the technology infrastructure is another constraint, and even in a more well off school, it should never be expected that students have and can bring in their own technology to make up the difference.


 * Module 3 Notes**
 * 1) List how your school and classroom environments support 21st Century learning outcomes. If you are not teaching, think about your school experience of the your children's school. Consider: Flexibility to teach in different styles due to low pressure from state and administration; access to the wireless network; some access to technology; building 2 flex labs; library with two computer labs; after school clubs that promote working with greater community
 * the extent to which faculty at your school collaborate, share best practices and integrate 21st century skills into classroom practice - Some collaboration but room for improvement.
 * students learn in relevant, real world 21st century contexts such as project-based and applied learning experiences Once again, although there is are some amazing projects going on in individual classes, I am hesitant to say this is happening globally. I have heard frequently that the pressure of AP tests to get through the materials means there is little to no time for research projects let alone project based learning.
 * students experience equitable access to quality learning tools, technologies and resources There is limited labs and laptop carts on campus.
 * to what extent architectural design of your classroom creates space for for group, team and individual learning There are only a few classrooms on campus that have shared tables instead of desks with seats attached. Although the latter can be moved around for students to work in groups, it makes it more challenging to do so. Furthermore, when adding laptops to the equation, it is not a particularly comfortable classroom ... much of the problem is due to increased class sizes so more desks and less space to move the desks around in. The library is a flexible space, however, it is also houses the only to computer labs on campus. We now have it set up so 2 deksktop labs and 1 laptop lab can be used... ie 3 labs and 3 classes can be in there simultaneously, but this maxes out space and means no other groups of students can use the library when this happens. They are building a new building that will allow greater flexibility of space including a student center and 2 flex labs. This will improve the situation greatly.
 * to what extent you provide opportunities for both face to face and online interaction with community members and experts in their field for your students This is an area that I would love to work on. I have brought in a guest author to speak ... but that is it. Ideally, I would love design projects where students are encouraged to be in communication with people outside the school and experts in the field.
 * to what extent does your school and classroom reflect the 21st Century Learning environment I think there are steps that are going in the right direction, some areas that have been stalled, and some other areas that have a long way to go.


 * Module 4 Notes**
 * 1) In what ways are your assuring that the 21st century skills taught discretely in the context of core subjects ? When I collaborate with teachers, I am often adding in lessons to existing projects that incorporate technology, information literacy skills, and student collaboration. Is your curriculum interdisciplinary? When working with Social Studies and Science teachers, yes, in that reading and writing skills are being integrated into their content standards. If you are a middle or high school teacher how can you or do you collaborate with teachers in other departments to create multidisciplinary projects? I would love to have interdisciplinary research benchmark projects.
 * 2) How does your curriculum focus on providing opportunities for applying 21st century skills across content areas and for a competency-based approach to learning? All of the projects I have gotten to work with across disciplines always look at competency-based approach because they are looking at gaining skills and applying them to content areas. Both the final project and process are assessed to see that they have learned and applied these skills.
 * 3) What instructional strategies do you use to enable innovative learning methods that integrate the use of supportive technologies such as inquiry-based, project-based and problem-based approaches as well as promote higher order thinking skill? In my project based learning activities, I have used the following instructional strategies: scaffolding, modeling, collaborative learning (i.e. students work in teams), providing choice in topics and final products, differentiation of reading materials and expected final projects.
 * 4) How do you encourage the integration of community resources beyond school walls? This is an area where I could particularly use more growth. In the past, I have taken students on field trips to take advantage of community resources. Furthermore, in my past site, working within the Green Small Learning Community, we depended highly on our local community to provide support. My colleagues organized to work with a variety of different environmental organizations and professionals in order to provide internships, field trips, volunteer opportunities, as well as infrastructure recommendations and insights.
 * 5) How can you better integrate 21st Century skills into your curriculum. I would like to return to my emphasis of integrating social/emotional/community building activities into the curriculum. I would like to further integrate technology based learning opportunities into more areas of learning. I would like to reach out to the greater community via online communication.

IF you are not currently teaching answer this from the point of view of your children's school or your experience as a college student.


 * Module 5 Notes**
 * 1) What are the best uses of technology to promote student learning in a 21st Century Classroom?
 * Using technology as a tool for powerful learning. Don't use it as a gimmick.
 * Using them as tools for collaboration and communication.
 * A way to reach out to the greater community and world.
 * Provide opportunity for multi-modal learning.
 * Differentiation - meet the needs of each student - work toward their strengths and learning styles, support them in the areas they struggle, allow them to learn at their own pace, and explore areas of interest
 * 2. What strategies can teachers use to assure their students are acquiring the 21st Century skills necessary for their future?
 * By backward mapping project based or problem based learning - give the students a project that allows them some choice, think through the skills they will need to be successful, teach those skills and give students plenty of opportunities to practice these skills. For their final project - students will have the opportunity to apply these skills while exploring their area of choice - integrating many of the 21st Century Skills along the way.
 * Introduce topics rich with connections - provide many opportunities for students to learn about the greater world, make connections, discuss, analyze, evaluate.
 * Include the greater community in learning activities - reach out via technology - online, skype, etc.
 * Collaborate - students should collaborate with peers, teachers, other students outside of their classroom and school.
 * Module 6 Notes**
 * 1) What aspects of Finland's educational model work in the United States?
 * Less testing would certainly work. It is sad the number of instructional days/learning days that are taken out for testing itself let alone in preparing for the test.
 * Teachers as guides/coaches.
 * Giving students more choices and freedom.
 * Teaching students autonomy.
 * 2. How can we best reshape education so that all students gain the skills they need to live and work in the 21st Century?
 * Education needs to be made a priority in this country. Teachers need to be trusted as professionals, and the profession itself needs to be held with a higher esteem . I thought it was interesting howlow the level of trust in others was rated in the U.S. That is a serious roadblock. So ... where to start? Eliminate or at least reduce standardized testing. Eliminate or at least reduce the dependence and requirements of using textbooks. Allow project based learning again! When I started teaching, I was part of a program that sought to bridge the digital divide by bringing in 1-to-1 laptops for 4 - 12th grade students in Title 1 schools only. It wasn't just a laptop program, it was about incorporating project based learning as way to get students excited and engaged in learning, especially those students who had been previously disengaged. <range type="comment" id="240935">Now, ironically, it is these same "underperforming schools" that are NOT ALLOWED to do project based learning (or even have time for science, social studies, music and art) because of the required time spent on language arts and math. This is incredibly wrong and detrimental to these students who are now likely to fall even further behind and drop out at greater rates due to lack of engagement with textbooks and testing ... and who can blame. <range type="comment" id="32310">So ... solution ... take away testing, incorporate project based learning, real life connections, problem solving, collaboration!
 * <range type="comment" id="657474">Education needs to be made a priority in this country. Teachers need to be trusted as professionals, and the profession itself needs to be held with a higher esteem . I thought it was interesting howlow the level of trust in others was rated in the U.S. That is a serious roadblock. So ... where to start? <range type="comment" id="289775">Eliminate or at least reduce standardized testing. Eliminate or at least reduce the dependence and requirements of using textbooks. Allow project based learning again! When I started teaching, I was part of a program that sought to bridge the digital divide by bringing in 1-to-1 laptops for 4 - 12th grade students in Title 1 schools only. It wasn't just a laptop program, it was about incorporating project based learning as way to get students excited and engaged in learning, especially those students who had been previously disengaged. <range type="comment" id="240935">Now, ironically, it is these same "underperforming schools" that are NOT ALLOWED to do project based learning (or even have time for science, social studies, music and art) because of the required time spent on language arts and math. This is incredibly wrong and detrimental to these students who are now likely to fall even further behind and drop out at greater rates due to lack of engagement with textbooks and testing ... and who can blame. <range type="comment" id="32310">So ... solution ... take away testing, incorporate project based learning, real life connections, problem solving, collaboration!