Challenging UConn Students with 21rst Century Skills

Sally ReisInterim Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

Teaching Fellowwww.gifted.uconn.edu/semr

High above the hushed crowd, Rex tried to remain focused. Still, he couldn’t shake one nagging thought: He was an old dog and this was a new trick.

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"This is Senior English. From now on your books won't be popping up."

Engagement• How do you define

engagement?• Phil Schlecty asserts that

students who are engaged exhibit three characteristics:– They are attracted to

their work– They persist in their

work despite challenges and obstacles, and

– They enjoy accomplishing their work

Twenty-First Century Skills

• UConn students must be able to effectively use 21st century skills within the context of rigorous academic content.

• What students learn, as well and how they learn, when they learn, and how often they have to learn new content is changing daily!

Tony Wagner in his book, The Global Achievement Gap: defines 21rst Century Skills

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving• Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence• Agility and Adaptability• Initiative and Entrepreneurialism• Effective Oral and Written Communication• Accessing and Analyzing Information• Curiosity and Imagination

… Wait until KINDERGARTEN

… THIS WEEK WE TOOK A TEST TO SEE IF WE’RE READY FOR THE TEST THAT TESTS OUR TEST SKILLS…

In which direction are we moving in American Education?

Digital Age Literacy

• Basic, Scientific, and Technological Literacies

• Visual and Information Literacy• Cultural Literacy and Global

Awareness

Inventive Thinking and Intellectual Capital

• Curiosity, Creativity and Risk-taking• Higher Order Thinking and Reasoning

Interactive Communication—Social and Personal Skills

• Personal and Social Responsibility• Interactive Communication• Teaming and Collaboration

Quality, State-of-the-Art Results

• Prioritizing, Planning, and Managing for Results

• Effective Use of Real World Tools

• High Quality Results with Real World Applications

• Dr. Michael Wesch, a member of the Advisory Board for 21st Century Schools, made a global impact on August 2, 2008 when his presentation at the American Library of Congress (on June 28), An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube, was featured on YouTube.

• In this presentation Dr. Wesch opens our eyes to the phenomenon of new social communities and to the classroom use of many recently developed.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o&feature=relmfu

• Twenty-first century curriculum has certain critical attributes. It is interdisciplinary, project-based, and research-driven. It is connected to the community – local, state, national and global. Some students collaborate with people around the world in various projects. The curriculum incorporates higher order thinking skills, technology and multimedia, the multiple literacies of the 21st century, and authentic assessments. Service learning is an important component.

• The classroom is expanded to include the greater community. Students are self-directed, and work both independently and interdependently. The curriculum and instruction are designed to challenge all students, and provides for differentiation.

• The curriculum is not textbook-driven or fragmented, but is based on learning objectives.

• Learning is thematic, project-based and integrated. Skills and content are not taught as an end in themselves, but students learn them through their research and application in small and more involved projects. Textbooks are just one of many resources.

• Knowledge is not considered memorization, but is constructed through research and application, and connected to previous knowledge, personal experience, interests, talents and passions. The skills and content become relevant and needed as students require this information to complete their projects. The content and basic skills are applied within the context of the curriculum, and are not ends in themselves.

• Assessment moves from regurgitation of memorized facts and disconnected processes to demonstration of understanding through application in a variety of contexts. Self-assessment is critical.

Our students need to become media literate and learn to understand how to function in an online collaborative, research-based environment – researching, analyzing, synthesizing, critiquing, evaluating and creating new knowledge.

21rst Century Skills

• Creativity and innovation• Communication• Information Literacy• Local and global citizenship• Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making• Collaboration• Digital literacy• Life and career connections• Learning to learn/ metacognition• Personal and social responsibility

“What’s the opposite of “Eureka!’?”