Super Summary Part 1 pg. 1 to 19
We are moving from the industrial age of machines and engines to the knowledge age of information-driven and global networking. These days the knowledge age exceeds industrial age spending by $5 billion (Trilling, & Fadel, 2009). The knowledge age work will soon make the industrial age work go away due to the impact of the knowledge age tools. The work needed by the industrial age will be transferred to lower-wage countries. Changes that occur will cause the demands of education to increase because educators will have to prepare future workers to deal with challenges of their times. But to have expert knowledge workers, every country needs an education system that produces them; therefore, education becomes the key to economic survival in the 21 st century (Trilling, & Fadel, 2009).
Current studies show that students that are graduating from secondary school do not have the skills needed to perform in this ever changing world. Then in turn companies are spending more money on training their employees. In the past, the skills focused on routine manual and cognitive skills, but have now moved to complex communication and expert thinking. As educators, we need to prepare students with these skills for many jobs that do not exist yet. How do we prepare for something that we do not know yet?
As we prepare our students, what do we expect our school to do for our children? Education plays four universal roles on society. It empowers us to contribute to work and society, exercise and develop our personal talents, fulfill out civic responsibilities, and carry out traditions and values forward (Trilling, & Fadel, 2009). These goals have been constant through the years; the part that changes is how people go about meeting them. In the industrial age, work shifted from farm to city and from fields to factories and now to communication and knowledge.
In the 21st century, to meet the four goals we need to change what we prepare our students for. The first goal of contributing to work and society, we need to be able to learn quickly and master broad skills of essential learning. Team work, communication, problem solving and creativity will lead to culturally rich societies. Fulfilling personal talents can be met by offering the opportunity to use the technology to increase different talents. The civic responsibilities can be met with the access of the internet, which increase issues, facts, conversations and opinions that inform participate in decision making skills. Learning the core principles and blending them with knowledge will be in high-demand for the 21st century.
In summary, we are preparing student for job, skills, technology, and problems that are not yet known. This brings me back to the quote on page three in 21st century skills Learning for life in our times, “ We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist…using technologies that haven’t yet been invented… in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.” As educators, what does this mean for us and how are we to be teaching these areas when we don’t even know where it is going or what is going to happen?
With technology always changing, I think as educators we are going to have to constantly change how we teach and when we teach new technology. Students need to be exposed to as much of the new technology as early as possible. Studies have shown younger students have an easier time of learning new things than older students so we need to start as early as possible to help these young learners. As educators if we do not incorporate as much technology as available into our classrooms we are only hurting our students. I know sometimes it is hard to prepare everything for our classes and learn a new piece of technology but I think it is what must be done if we want to prepare our students for these new jobs that will created as we move into the future.
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to look into the future and teach my kids skills for jobs that I don't know. Where am I to take them? I feel the communication in students now a days is so low, that maybe that is where I should focus. But technolgoy does not allow face to face communication. Communication can be increased through technology in the means of who and how we communicate, but the face to face is lacking. So where to go next?
ReplyDeleteThe reality of our profession is that we have always been teaching and preparing students for an unknown future. My grandmother was a teacher. When she began teaching the modern technology was a chalkboard. She could never have imagined that in her lifetime people would walk on the moon or have devices in their possession that would allow them to communicate almost instantly with people on the other side of the world that they have never met face to face. She taught basic skills infused with what she would have called "common sense" or as we would call it 21st century learning skills--communication, critical thinking, creativity... At the core I still believe those things to be true of my profession. I must teach my students basic skills, challenge their thinking, encourage them to develop strong, healthy character traits, and caution them to always look at the big picture of life. The only thing that really changes is how I teach these things. Quite honestly I would choose my technology in the classroom over my grandmother's any day! I believe the students in my class are bright, eager to learn, competitive in their achievements, and compassionate for others. Perhaps I am more fortunate than most in my profession.
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