Introduction to 21^st Century Skills Class

August 2008

A) Visit the following links. Read, take notes, and reflect on the information.

B) Use the Cornell Notes handouts for taking your notes. (If you want, you can do this in Word and save it to your server file.) Open this document and save it: Cornell Notes. You will need more than one.

How to Build a Student for the 21^st Century. (TIME Magazine Article)

21^st Century Skills: Will our Students be Prepared? (techLearning Article)

Understanding the New Digital Landscape, Kids, and the New Digital Divide (Article from a conference presentation) I do have printed copies if you would prefer to read it that way.

21^st Century Skills Framework (Find the “Overview” and read/print it)

EnGauge 21^st Century Skills (Especially look at pages 5, 10-12 from the first article listed.)

You could also search for information on your own…this is just a sampling of the material that is available!

C) By the end of class on Friday, you should have good, thoughtful, well-written answers to the following questions.

· You will use the information from your own notes to answer them.

· Your answers should NOT be copied/pasted information from the reading. It needs to be information in your own words.

· Be prepared to defend your answers in a class discussion.

1. What are the 21^st Century Skills? (This encompasses content, skills, and tools…do not just give a “list” of the skills.)

2. Why are they important?

3. How will you be able to get them?