- What does Bob Pearlman mean when he says students are digital natives? How does this change the skill students prefer—and need—to learn in the 21st century?
- Why does the author suggest that project-based and problem-based learning are the keys to learning in the 21st century?
- What questions must 21st century schools address to prepare students for their 21st century lives? What are the design criteria for these schools?
- What does the author mean by the statement “The signature characteristic of 21st century schools is students at work” (p. 127)? How does this differ from the way students learned in the 20th century?
- What are the five schools in the United States and the United Kingdom that exemplify the best of the new learning environments? What are the characteristics of each?
- Compare and contrast the five schools. Which school would you most want to mirror your school after?
- How can you shift your school into a new learning environment that supports 21st century skills?
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Designing New Learning Environments
Read "Designing New Learning Environments to Support 21st Century Skills" and address the following questions in your post:
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Kids today are born with technology. They are being born into an electronic world full of tvs, touch screens, ipads, cellphones, laptops, netbooks etc. They are born into a world that uses this technology as often as it uses word of mouth and children are catching onto how to use technology as fast as they are learning to speak. With project based learning the children are learning more hands on. They are learning to collaborate which is an important skill to be used later on in life. They are also often using technology which is fun and a part of their every day life. They are learning something by using something that they are proficient with. Educators need to research how different tools can be used in the classroom and more importantly how they can be used to motivate their students. Perhaps asking the students themselves what tools they would like to see used in the classroom and how would be beneficial? Students are used to being lectured at but is this really an efficient way of learning? Not at all. Involve the students and have them in a way teach themselves. I think that having them work hands on will provide them with a deepened understanding of the material.
In order for the education system to enter the 21st century, the school must teach 21st century skills and the atmosphere of the school must change. Instead of the teacher having all of the control in the classroom the students should collaborate with each other and learn in a collaborative environment. I agree that students need to learn in this type of environment but how are all the schools in the U.S. going to change? I am observing now and my mentor teacher allows for group work but as I walk around to help, either the group is working individually within the group or one student is doing all the work and everyone else is copying. I tried to stop these behaviors and I tried to get the group to work together. Students are so trained now that I think it would be difficult to change their ways. I think it will be challenging but not impossible. I think individual teachers need to read articles like this one and change their ways in their classroom.
Project-based learning and problem-based learning allow students to use the 21st century skills. Collaboration, communication, critical thinking and being creative are all skills that students use and obtain while they are working together in groups on a project that is inquiry based. When you allow students to use the skills they learn the skills and appreciate the skills. Students are called digital natives because students are constantly surrounded with technology and grew up learning with technology. Students use technology at home and know how to use all the technology. Since students are native learners, why not use what they know (technology) and teach with it?
Changing the environment of the school will be a little difficult for the teachers. The teachers must receive help from the administrators. I believe that schools with an inviting learning station will allow for exciting learners. The setups of the schools that were mentioned in this article were very interesting. I liked how the New Tech High had a floor plan with “collaboration zones” and “learning environments” (135). This floor plan just shows that the school was made for student learning and collaboration. These students at this school definitely will learn 21st century skills.
The world is changing so why aren’t schools changing? I love the traditional ways of schooling but I definitely agree that these ways are in the past and must change.
I really feel that it is so important for students to learn 21st century skills in school. After all this is the century they are born in and the century they will live in for the rest of their lives. Pearlman described these students as “digital natives.’ These students are growing up with computers, ipads and smartboards just to name a few. They will continue to use technology and integrate new technologies into their repertoire. They do not know of the time prior to the introduction of these technologies and honestly they never will. In addition students will need 21st century skills such as the ability to work technologies in their future as well as during their professional careers.
Pearlman said that in order for 21st century skills to be taught effectively two things must change: how the curriculum is taught and where it is taught. I could not agree more with this statement. It is one thing to teach students how to use technology such as using the Internet. But it is totally different thing to teach students why it is important to learn this skill and other tasks they can complete with their new knowledge. In addition to these skills students need to be asked to be critical thinkers. We are living in a creative world, therefore students need to be able to problem solve and think critically. By using problem based learning students get to exercise these skills as well as work collaboratively with others.
I find it so intriguing how there are schools that are creating classrooms and spaces that do not look like the schools we are use to. In an ideal world it would be great if our schools could transform into similar models that were described by Pearlman. Schools that feature open floor plans, learning studios and accessible technology for all would definitely help students acquire 21st century skills. However, this is not realistic at this point in time. Right now teachers need to focus on problem based learning as well as allowing students to think critically and collaborate. Hopefully the ability to transform our schools into similar models as the ones described by Pearlman will follow.
What does it mean to be in a 21st century classroom? Many of us still do not know. However we know a few things about schooling to help us. For instance, we know that we need to prepare our students for their futures, we need to engage them in the classroom, and we need to help them become aware of their society. But are we doing that? We like to think we are, but we are not, and the biggest issue of them all is that we are not preparing them for their own future. How can we prepare them for something that doesn't even exist yet? The only way we can do that is to get them ready by incorporating tools and that will allow them, to be ready for what we know will happen. For instance we know the future will rely heavily on technology and working collaboratively, so lets prepare them with that. Lets get them ready to use the technology in ways we thought impossible and get them to work with people that are difficult. This is where our classrooms need to go, and in some schools that is happening. The four schools in the U.S and the one in the U.K exemplify these characteristics by making their classrooms working environments. The students are not sitting around waiting for the next direction for the teacher, instead they are making up their own rules testing them and learning what process is the best. They are enhancing their critical thinking skills to levels that we have never seen. They are truly preparing themselves for their future.
Bob Pearlman says that students are digital natives. To me this means that today’s students were born with technology. Students now have technology such as, computers, the internet, ipods and smart phones. As technology changes, students are growing and keeping up with the changes. Students need to be engaged.
Pearlman also suggests that project-based learning (PBL) is the keys to learning in the 21st century and I agree. The world has changed drastically due to technology; therefore shouldn’t the way we teach students also change? How can students be expected to learn the same way their parents learned? PBL is the 21st century way of teaching. PBL doesn’t focus on teacher-directed whole-group instruction; instead it focuses on learned centered workplaces for a collaborative culture of students at work. I think the problem we have is with the transition from teacher-directed to student-centered. Older teachers think their way of teaching is getting the results, so why change. And younger teachers want to change but need more guidance. Also, students can’t just be expected to learn how to work with their peers, they have to be taught.
I agree with Kristin when she raises the question, what exactly is a 21st century classroom. Some of us are unsure as to what that means. Fortunately for this class, I have a better understanding now than I did before, but I cannot speak the same for most of the teachers in this profession and that is part of the problem.
Pearlman states it best when noting there are "pockets of innovation in schooling." We are trying to make our schools look like they are 21st century classrooms. However, only a small majority of schools have been successful in accomplishing this, where technology is effectively incorporated into daily lessons. Where schools are also incorporating Project and Problem Based Learning and allowing students to take control and be accountable for their own learning. Not only preparing the children to be critical/creative thinkers, but also allowing them to work through challenges with other children. It is truly unfortunate to know (and see) that there are schools that have not yet jumped on the 21st century band wagon. It’s as if our world is evolving around us daily, and these schools refuse to believe that major changes are being made. More than doing a disadvantage to the education system, they are doing an even greater disadvantage to the children. Those schools are ignoring the fact that we are living in a technological world and these children are technology gurus. Maybe we need to take a step back and compare the growth and developments that are being made in schools such as a BSF school to some schools in our own society and question why student performance in those schools are higher....
Pearlman couldn't have put it any better when he said that many educators are pouring "old wine into new bottles." This is exemplified by the schools who purchase technology but never use it, nor train their teachers how to use it. With the rapid changes in technology over the past decade, students of today are unlike students of the past. They are technology savvy, and technology is what gets them going. I happen to think it is because that is what they feel comfortable doing. That is what comes natural. Pearlman brought about some really great perspectives and ideas. Like Nicolle said, it was so interesting to see the various schools in the US and England that have started to design these high tech, collaboration oriented schools. I wish I had advisory rooms, project rooms, meeting rooms, etc to work in during my primary and secondary school years. Perhaps I would have felt as though learning was my job and I was more in control. However, as Pearlman pointed out, it isn't the environment that makes the learning, its the learning that determines the environment. I whole heartedly agree that you need to determine your goals/pedagogy and then structure your environment to attain those goals. The problem with so many of these "old wine new bottle" schools is that they think purchasing all this technology will automatically make them a tech savvy, 21st century school. I am excited to see what these 5 schools can accomplish over the years.
I also liked the idea that these classrooms had the teachers as the role of facilitators. This implies that the students are in charge of their own learning. This is the way it should feel. I think that if students are given an opportunity to be constructive learners (PBL) they will amaze educators with what they can accomplish. Children, as they are now, are too brainwashed by the teacher-student pedagogy. They are too afraid to think outside the box.
My only fear with these new schools being built is what happens to the poorer school districts? There are some schools receiving iPads while other schools have textbooks stating Reagan is still the President. I'm hoping that when dealing with technology in schools, we might start to think about ways to allow technology for all students-rich and poor alike.
“How kids best learn in the 21st century & how we can make school catalysts for vibrant engagement and not achievement” (Pearlman). We find ways to advance the school system so students are motivated. We want students to enjoy school and truly learn something. PBL changes the dynamic of education. It involves creativity, collaboration, problem-solving, and decision making. This technique is student-centered; kids are teaching themselves with little guidance from a teacher. PBL helps students learn from these experiences that apply to the real world. Kids have access to this in school and out of school so they can keep learning. I see many pros in PBL; this is by far the best technique of the 21st century. Briefly knowing about PBL prior to this chapter by Pearlman, I was not the biggest fan. I felt that kids would know more than teachers, and won’t need them. Teachers will feel left behind because they are never properly trained for new technology. After reading this chapter, I see nothing wrong with kids knowing more than educators. Students can help their teachers which is motivating and teachers help kids learn on their own.
Students today are a lot different than students of yesterday. A new breed. Growing up in the 21st century, students are referred to as digital natives. By this, students are almost born into this world with a piece of technology in their hands. Due to this familiarization with or attachment to technology, it has become a normal piece of life, a necessity. Since students rely on technology to communicate or perform different tasks, this changes the skill that students need and want to learn. Teaching 21st century skills is extremely important. Since students spend so much of their life in schools, teaching 21st century skills will allow a student to grow as an individual, learn to collaborate, critically think, be creative, etc -all important skills a student will need when they are an adult. With this, project based and problem based learning are becoming essential keys to any type of learning because it is more student based- and with technology, students can access each other more easily, allowing each other to collaborate in the comfort of ones own home. In order to successfully transition into the 21st century school, schools and teachers much be willing to change their teaching methods to accommodate PBL, which should focus on a students knowledge, skills, future etc. By doing this, schools and teachers will be able to provide students with a more engaging, interactive, unique education. The author makes an interesting statement to describe schooling in the 21st century. “The signature characteristic of 21st century schools is students at work” To explain this statement, one could make a comparison to education in the 20th vs 21st century. In the 20th century, students learned in a way where teachers lectured, told you what to do, tested you, and gave you projects. In the 21st century, there is more student involvement which means students are being allowed to choose what they want to do, with the guidance of their teachers. Students in the 21st century also have more access to new technology, web 2.0 tools etc. There are currently five schools in the US and UK that exemplify the best of the new learning environments are Columbus Signature Academy, New Tech High @ Coppell, The Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, High Tech High, and New Line Learning Academy. While these schools are similar in the sense that they incorporate new learning environments, they are also very different. Whether it be having a unique class setup or new names for students/teachers, etc, each one does a great job at promoting a new learning enviornment. In order to shift any school to a new learning environment with 21st century skills, one must focus on student engagement.
I found it interestsing how in the beginning of this article, the author asks, are students today much different from their parents? Of course this is an obvious yes because there are many different things that are impacting their lives that didn’t impact the lives of their parents. Technology is major part of their life during the current time and the fact that we do not enhance their education using technology is really depressing. Instead we create school as if it were a place where the real world stops and students have to go an listen to their teacher talk about things they really do not care about. Lessons need to be created so that students are engaged in what they are learning and so they can gain skills on problem solving as well as higher order thinking but this cannot be done if schools choose to disconnect the real world from their education. Schools have tried to create standards that encourage creativity skill, problem solving and communication skills but unfortunately they haven’t created ways to assess for these qualities or incorporate it into the curriculum. A typical classroom of the 21st century should consist of students working and collaborating on a real world problem and the teacher is guiding them along the way. The students would be more engaged in the lesson and they will have more ownership over their own education which in the end would help them learn much better. I really enjoyed reading the part where the students wrote what they would like to see in a classroom because their opionions should definitely be incorporated into the creation of new classsroom since it will be their educational home. They talk of interactive classrooms and rooms in which they can collaborate with others and this is definitely things we need in order to a create a PBL classroom so event he students know what they need in order to effectively learn. I really enjoyed looking at the floor plan for Colombus Signature Academy. There was not a single student desk in the whole plan. There were tables everywhere which showed that each and every classroom was made for collaboration and this is definitely something that is necessary for 21st century learning.
Pearlman really demonstrates how effective "modern" teaching can be. Instead of having lectures and "group" work, we could have exploration, development, collaboration, and interest within our classroom. At the moment, the majority of schools have rows of desks with the teacher's desk at the front. The seats all face forward, towards the whiteboard. Students are lectured to, assigned homework, and assessed according to standards that may or may not have changed much since my mother went to school. They aren't learning anything relevant to what is going on within their actual lives.
Pearlman shows us how we can change that. Start by thinking about what students need to know. And that has changed considerably today from even when I was a student in high school. Internet knowledge is a must as is how to use all of Microsoft Office tools. Reading comprehension is still important but we need to teach them within the context they know as well: the internet. We have been saying throughout this class that students are not taught how to correctly "use" the internet. Here is our change. Have computers in the room, have roll-y chairs and easy to move tables. Have everything that will allow students to easily access everything they need and that helps them to work together. When we say work together, we do not mean copying answers; we mean examining problems, researching, questioning, developing, testing, and forming conclusions. We want our students to be able to learn how to properly research, develop, and conclude without us doing it for them repeatedly.
We can then look at how we teach and change. Stop the lecturing, stop the endless notes, stop the worksheets that may wind up in the garbage. Let's have seminars. Let's have the students choose topics of interests and explore them. The teacher should be a facilitator, a guide for students, not a crutch. Students should look to teachers for help but not the answer.
The 21st century is full of students who have new fields to explore, new jobs that have never existed, and new problems that will arise. Schools should prepare students to face these issues and these new experiences and help them develop skills to work through anything. Standardized tests only enforce the idea that knowledge is memorized, application is useless. Students will not have experiences that relate to how many apples Johnny and Maria just picked. They will have problems about maintaining farmland, investing properly, borrowing without fear, etc. and we should help them tackle these problems.
Today's students are born into technology. They have the advantage on older students and adults where they use technology in the home and some int he classroom at such an early age. It is said in the article that students today are "digital natives". Technology is all around them. The technology at home students use are computers,
Internet access, iPods, and smartphones. In schools they most likely do not have that kind of technology or at least most schools are not equipped with that technology. In most schools the classroom setting consists of individual desks, using worksheet, pens and pencils, and the teacher in the from teaching the class. It is still a very old school setting.
Project Based Learning is very important for the 21st century classroom. You can't be teaching in the 21st century and still using the ideas and tools of the 20th century. We now have so much technology to use in the classroom that will help students work collaboratively, build their content knowledge and communication skills. Their thinking and problem solving abilities will also prosper from PBL.
An important question teachers must ask themselves is, How do kids want to learn and what are their motivations? This kind of thinking will help the students be more involved in the classroom and want to learn about what is being taught. Students don't want to just sit at their desks and listen to the teacher all day. It is effective to work in groups and learn from each other.
Thinking about classrooms that I have seen today, I have not seen any Project-Based Learning techniques. These schools do have technology in the classroom, but they do not base their lessons around that. These classrooms are still based on the students at their desks and the teacher in the front of the classroom lecturing. I hope that in the near future more and more classrooms will consist of more student teaching. I believe that the students learn more from each other and working in groups. It is better for them to sit at tables, rather than desks, and to have more technology based learning. It is very important to have an interactive environment.
The article talks about how students in the 21st century are born into a technological world, each with the knowledge and skills to use them efficiently and effectively.
project-based and problem-based learning are the keys to learning in the 21st century because it gives students the chance to become the teachers. The students will be divided into groups, given a topic with a guiding question and then sent to work.
This method of learning gives students the chance to be the teachers, to develop and research the topic and project, to creatively think of ideas and concepts they can use when presenting the topic. PBL, gives students the opportunity to use their knowledge and skills of technology to develop, research, inquire and create presentations and projects on certain topics or concepts. They then would present them to the class, showing what they have learned and presenting other questions that influence creative out of the box thinking
One question may be How can we effectively and efficiently integrate the use of PBL and technology into the classroom that will allow for greater development in research, learning, and critical thinking skills?
Students are digital natives because they have been surrounded by widespread technology use as the norm from the very beginning of their lives. This changes the skill set that they prefer and need because the tools available and expected to be used by them are different from the ones 20th century students grew up with.
Project- and Problem-Based Learning are keys to the 21st century learning because they deal with “realistic, real-world” problems or projects that require skills such as critical thinking, ingenuity, and collaboration, just to name a few. And these are the skill sets that people need in the 21st century to be productive, effective, and successful. Additionally, PBL is meaningful in that it directly affects “real life” and fosters skills that are applicable to other real life experiences to come.
“Students at work” means they are more involved in the teaching and learning process. Rather than teaching at them (which is they way most students of the 20th century might report being their experience), learning occurs with and by students.
I prefer this type of teaching regardless of the use of technology. That being said, obviously it is our responsibility to meaningfully incorporate technology that students use (or will be using) on a regular basis. Overall, I agree with the points in this reading.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011"Designing New Learning Environments to Support 21st Century Skills"
I found it interesting when Bob Pearlman discussed the new schools in the United States and that little has changed. It made me think, schools still have desks (either in rows or groups), a teacher in the front, and some classrooms have computers or white boards, but Pearlman is right, little has changed. Some of the wealthiest areas don't even have air conditioning in their schools, which I find interesting.
Pearlman says that kids today are "digital natives". What Pearlman is saying is that many kids have iPads, computers, iPhones, etc at home. Kids spend most of their time on these new and improved devices, and then go to school where they have to use a "pencil and paper" to learn. Children need and prefer to have some sort of technology in the 21st century classroom because now a days, that's what they're used to. Technoology is engaging for children, if used the right way.
Pearlman suggest that PBL is essential to 21st century learning because it is the best way for children to learn. They are able to ask questions, engage, collaborate, and work with real-life situations. According to Pearlman, the questions schools need to ask about 21st century learning are: "What knowledge and skills do students need for 21st century learning? What are the activities and curriculum for 21st century learning? What are the assessments? How does technology support 21st century learning?
Pearlman says that a classroom with 21st century learning involves students working on their own collaboratively. I think there should be a mix of both teacher directed-whole group instruction and 21st century learning. Pearlman says that "The signature characteristic of 21st century schools is students at work" (p. 127). Pearlman is saying that students working on their own learning is what 21st century learning is all about. Students learning on their own or collaboratively with technology is the basis of this type of learning.
I found it interesting that the high school in Texas doesn't have "teachers" or "students". Instead, they have learners and facilitators. The learners are responsible for their own learning. The pictures were really interesting to look at. It is definitely something I am not used to. It seems as if the five schools all have somewhat of a workstation. All of the pictures show children working together. It doesn't look like a classroom, it looks very technologically advanced. All of the schools do PBL but the instruction and practice is different in each one. It is kind of uncomfortable for me to see the pictures, because it doesn't look like the "traditional classroom" that Pearlman states in the beginning. It is definitely something that I would have to get used to. The children look engaged and seem like they are learning in a more productive and interesting way.
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