7/9/23 – The transition from 20th century to 21st century instruction seems to be the hardest (or the most uncomfortable) for the veteran teacher (career starting in the 80’s and 90’s) who has not received or sought out strong professional learning to build the technology skills needed for the 21st century work force. Going from the Industrial Age into the Informational Age happened rapidly in the work world versus the educational world. Unless you were receiving cutting edge instruction in technology as a new teacher in your college work, the teachers in the trenches had to seek it out. That type of professional learning was not typically provided except for emailing, digital gradebooks, and online attendance submission.
Thankfully, I stepped away from education at a crucial time to build my computer skills in the business world for a couple of years, and then, went into virtual education with a charter school two years after returning to the public-school environment. It was through that virtual school experience that I was able to see a whole new side to education with Blended Learning. For those students in the virtual education program who were serious about their learning, those students were heavily engaged in the learning process and what they were learning. Their innovation and creativity blossomed in their work.
When I came back to the public school 8 years later, technology had not grown much in the elementary classroom. It took a district initiative that started about 6 years ago to bring the 21st century with Blended Learning into our elementary learning environment. The pandemic actually helped our school/district with bringing in one-to-one devices for all students – even in Kindergarten classes. That helped our school exponentially in the Blended Learning initiative.
I love the comment in one video that they have laptops so that they can easily be put away when not appropriate for the learning, because I see that in our campus’ learning environment. We use the computers as learning tools not in place of an educator. I also see that as we have grown as educators in the Blended Learning work, there is more effective collaboration among students and not just some “turn and talk” to your partner during a lecture lesson.
All of this adds up to a more 21st century learning environment and can continue to improve if we continue to be willing to be uncomfortable and take risks; to climb out of the learning pit as we press forward to try something innovative in our classrooms on a regular basis.
References:
21st Educator (April 2, 2009 ).21st Century Education vs. 20th Century Education. https://youtu.be/HiD1UqLPrOg
Lichtman, G. ( March 21, 2013). What 60 Schools Can Tell Us About Teaching 21st Century Skills. https://youtu.be/UZEZTyxSl3g
MacArthur Foundation (December 1, 2010). Rethinking Learning: The 21st Century Learner. https://youtu.be/c0xa98cy-Rw
Realizing 2030: A Divided Vision of the Future. (n.d.). In Dell Technologies. Dell Technologies.
Wings and a Wand 