Preparing Students for 21st Century Skills

Preparing Students for 21^st Century Skills

Over many years, schools have been teaching students how to read, write, and communicate.  However, recent technology advances have caused us to evolve our teaching methods.  In the 21^st century, we have learned to expand these reading, writing, and communication skills while utilizing the Internet.  It truly is important that we are teaching these “new literacies” in our classrooms today.  In Donald Leu’s article Preparing Students for the 21^st Century, he mentions five skill sets that are important for today’s school-age children to learn.

1. Identifying Important Questions

2. Locating Important Information

3. Critically Evaluating Information

4. Synthesizing Information

5. Communication Information

My third grade students worked on research reports last quarter.  They used both books and online resources to locate accurate information about a country of their choosing.  In order to do this research report, my students used all of these skill sets when using the Internet to find information for their report.  Two sites they used at school were Culture Grams and Kids InfoBits.  Both of these sites were accessible on our school’s media center website.  Although students were offered the opportunity to access information on their country at home using the Internet, only about 20% did.  One reason for this is due to the socioeconomic disadvantages affecting some of our students.  Not all of my students have access to Internet at home.  After reading the article How Teachers are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms, I can relate to the comment about greater disparities between affluent and low-income schools when thinking about how I can best support 21^st century skills that these students will need for future jobs.

Culture Grams       Kids InfoBits