This week we looked at WTS 1.1- Innovate: Demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology (OSPI, 2008). The class shared bookmarks on creative thinking, knowledge construction, and 21st century skills (the tag of the week). In addition, we were supposed to familiarize ourselves with Twitter micro-blogging tools. I was certainly familiar with creative thinking, comfortable enough with knowledge construction, and as luck would have it, had actually heard about Twitter (Twitter in Plain English). The concept I had to spend the most time getting acquainted with was 21st century education.
So what is 21st century education? “It is bold. It breaks the mold. It is flexible, creative, challenging, and complex. It addresses a rapidly changing world filled with fantastic new problems as well as exciting new possibilities” (21st Century Schools, nd). I loved how that sounded, but it didn’t tell me a whole lot. The definitive site for 21st century skills is The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21, 2009). P21 states they are the leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education. P21 offers a document on 21st century outcomes for education that illiterates 21st century skills. So what are 21st century skills? The skills that will help us to thrive in an “increasingly diverse, globalized, and complex media-saturated society” (21st Century Schools, nd). These skills include:
- creativity and innovation
- critical thinking and problem solving
- communication and collaboration
- information media and ICT literacy
- flexibility and adaptability
- social and cross cultural skills
So, right away, there were some of the buzz words for the week: innovation and creative thinking. Well some of the bookmarks the class shared this week appeared to me to be truly innovative. Take Diigo, for example. A bookmarking tool like delicious but with the ability to highlight text (!) in the documents/sites you find, as well as the ability to attach sticky notes (!) and clip pictures. Take the tour! (Diigo) I found an innovative slideshare about creative thinking (visual and creative thinking) that defines creativity as the ability to use imagination to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like to create meaningful new ideas, forms, and methods. And, Teacher Tap is a professional development resource for educators that has a cool page on critical and creative thinking, including Bloom’s taxonomy. Neilsen (2009) offers Ten Ideas for Getting Started with 21st Century Teaching and Learning. Neilsen suggests that utilizing technology standards is a vital component of infusing technology into the curriculum (ISTE Education Technology Standards http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS). Neilsen also recommends you join a social networking site (“You are NOT too old for facebook,” she says) such as Classroom 2.0., a social networking site for those interested in web 2.0 technologies in education.
I don’t want to intimate that 21st Century Skills are only attainable through technology. Certainly, technology is not an indispensable component of communication, problem solving, or creative thinking. However, being proficient (and innovative!) with technology is crucial to succeed in 21st Century environments. And let’s not forget that all this technology is supposed to lead to knowledge construction (the other buzz word of the week). Knowledge is not memorization of facts and figures, but is constructed through research and application, and connected to previous knowledge and personal experience.
So, how can we apply technology to knowledge construction? Well, collaboration is considered an excellent method for knowledge construction. Online discussion can provide the collaboration needed to accomplish knowledge construction. In Promoting Durable Knowledge Construction through Online Discussion, Knowlton (n.d.) gives practical advice, grounded in a framework of durable knowledge construction, to ensure that online discussions contribute to higher order thinking skills. I think we have all seen how online discussions can quickly digress to meaningless chit-chat, bland comments, and obvious glad-handing. Knowlton points out that quality online discussions leading to durable (lasting) knowledge don’t just happen. Educators must carefully design and facilitate online discussions. Knowlton proposes that effective online discussion questions fall into 3 categories: (1) Domains of Thinking Questions require students to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the types of problem solving approaches and knowledge construction mechanisms inherent to a specific field (i.e. scientific method). (2) Case Analysis Questions require students to apply course theories and concepts to specific, real world scenarios (used a lot in nursing) and (3) Introspective Questions based on issues of critical thinking and designed to encourage students to examine “how they learn.” Knowlton uses Bloom’s taxonomy to demonstrate the levels of learning to strive for in planning questions for online discussions. As a nurse educator, I can use Knowlton’s suggestions to craft case study discussion questions that will require critical and creative thinking and allow students to construct lasting knowledge.
References
Knowlton, D. (nd). Promoting durable knowledge construction through online discussion. Crichton College, Center for Distance Education and Learning Technologies. Retrieved October 23, 2009, from http://frank.mtsu.edu/~itconf/proceed01/11.html
Neilsen, L. (2009). Ten ideas for getting started with 21st century teaching and learning. Tech & Learning. Retrieved October 20, 2009, from http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/22558
OPSI. (2008). K-12 Educational Technology Learning Standards. Retrieved from http://www.k12.wa.us/edtech/pubdocs/K12EdTechStandards9-12_12-08.pdf
21st Century Schools (nd). What is 21st Century Education? Possibilities for 21st century education. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/What_is_21st_Century_Education.htm
