21st Century Learning…blah blah blah

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by mrsdkrebs

Right now you probably hear as many people talk about how annoyed they are with the term “21st Century Learning” as you will hear people talking about the importance of it.  I will have to admit, I am in the “annoyed” camp.

We often talk about these ideals of what “21st Century Learning” will look like but I think we can start with something much simpler.  We should start asking, “How do we ourselves best engage in our own learning?”

I was reminded of this the other day while at a conference and the presenter started the session by saying, “I would like to start by asking everyone to put away their mobile devices.”  The room was split down the middle with those who were offended by his statement, and those that knew he was joking.  Educators as learners would often be offended if we were told the tools or way that we are allowed to learn at any point, yet often many do not flinch at asking their kids to do the same.

How many educators could sit through 4-6 hours of lectures daily, with worksheets, for 180-200 days of the year?  I know I can barely sit down for an hour so I am amazed at what I see some kids can do throughout the day.  They are bored doing it, yet they will still comply.

The more I go to conferences, I often see many people skipping sessions to talk and connect the material.  Could you imagine if kids walked out of class to do the same?  Would this be acceptable behaviour in a classroom or school?  I have learned that some of my best learning from conferences have not been from the sessions, but through the conversations I have with my colleagues outside in the hallways. In fact, at Connected Canada this month, we are encouraging educators to take in the sessions but providing substantial time for participants to connect and engage with one another in between sessions.  The time for conversation and reflections are important to learning.

Now I really do not believe that you can just switch schools to this more “adult” way of learning overnight.  People are creatures of habit and many students that are put into these different environments almost crave the conformity and strict rule over their learning that has been the norm.  However, maybe it is important for faculties to get together and talk about the way that they like to learn, discuss those goals as a school, how it can connect to the curriculum, and then work together to build a culture that has this more realistic and relevant form of learning.  We can talk about the ‘C’s’ of 21st Century Learning, or what organizations need, etc. until we are blue in the face.  Let’s start the conversation with some much easier questions.

How do we like to learn?  How can we differentiate this in the classroom for our students?  How do we make this the norm together?

Thoughts?

  • Melinda

    So incredibly true!!!! I know I would go insane if I had to endure the kind of day that many of my students endure. I would probably hang out at the mall or in the smoke pit too. (and I don't even smoke)

  • http://asecondheart.blogspot.com Sue Peterson

    I was actually thinking about this a lot this semester. I had a student who was taking a class I taught two semesters ago and wanted some extra help. So, he came to my office hours each week like clockwork and we would talk about the assignment he was working on, read over sections of his papers together, talk about what we thought his instructor meant when she said things like "vague writing" or " clarity" on his papers (words I remember writing on a number of student papers when teaching that class), discuss ideas for the papers, etc. It was so enjoyable to meet with him each week without the pressure of "teaching" him – and I think he learned a lot.
    It made me think about how much students could learn if we were able to engage them on a less formal, more individual and more "discussion" oriented way. Coffee talk between faculty and students…I don't know what it would look like, but I know it would be good.

  • http://teachwellnow.blogspot.com/ Maureen Devlin

    I like the safe and simple way you state what's at the core of good teaching and learning. If you don't mind, I'd like to reference this post in a blog post I just wrote about inspiring greater tech use. I must admit I do like the framework the 4 c's create for unit design and education change, I can't think of better goals than communication, collaboration, critical thinking skills and creativity to lead our work. Thanks for continuing to push my thinking towards what's best for children and educators.

  • Pernille Ripp

    I love how you point out that we would not want to sit through what we subject our students too, and yet most continue to put kids through that type of education. This is why I love conferences, it reminds me of how I learn myself and that translates back to my own teaching.

  • http://www.summercharlesworth.com Summer

    Since opening up our network and making our BYOD policy a living document, the level of engagement and the amount of curiosity as increased so much! It's interesting when we look at connections kids are now making with their learning, as they are trusted to use their own device. I think we can't underestimate the sense of 'ownership' of the device either. Girls bring what they like. Interestingly, most girls bring handheld items, for content consumption, and then utilise the school's bank of laptops for content creation. It's been a really enlightening process indeed. :-)

  • http://www.engagingeducators.com/blog Neil

    I agree with everything you said, George. I think, however, the phrase 21st Century ______ (you fill in the blank with teaching, learning, etc.) is simply a label to get at exactly what you described. Worksheets and lectures were totally the 20th Century — and the 19th and the 18th. We need a change to BYOD, more collaboration, more thinking, etc. Don't hate the phrase. It's simply a label to express what is wrong with teaching today and how we hope to fix it going forward.

  • http://learningisnotdead.blogspot.com/ HollyAnne Giffin

    Will you be attending BLC12 (http://blcconference.com/)? I think there will be a lot of people there with very similar beliefs and a strong desire to put ideas into on the ground action instead of blahblahblah.

    Thanks for a great post.

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  • http://www.jewishlearningventure.org Dr. Gloria Becker

    Not a new idea…read Lev Vygotsky

  • Leslie Whittington

    We tend to overuse things, don't we? It is like that great song you discover, then the radio stations play it so much you can't stand it and turn it off when you hear it. Those of us who are advocates for change in education have to be careful that we don't create a repetitive language made up of our favorite terms and phrases. Our colleagues will turn us off at the first few notes if we don't be careful.
    So, simplicity is key. I agree that it has to start with asking how we learn, but I think we have to take it a little further. We have to look at how the digital world around us is changing the way kids learn. Most importantly, I think we have to teach kids how to figure out how they learn best.
    Maybe it is just because I teach 11-13 yr olds and it is the end of the year, but I question more and more if anything we do will motivate kids to learn at school. Have we created a culture of resistance to school or will the resistance be there no matter how great our schools are? Is the "lack of motivation" at this age simply just developmental? I realize how negative that sounds, but there it is. Ugh.

  • Jody Watson

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    • Jody Watson

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  • Jody Watson

    Great Post George;
    The scary part for many educators is that we are having administrators school boards just starting to talk about 21 century learning and they are 12 years too late to the party. Is it going to take the luddites another 12 years to get to where many educators are now? If so where will we be? Is there always going to be a gap and we just do the best that we can with what we have. It is my hope that leaders in division office (ie. Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning) would stand on their soapbox and convince not only their own division but other divisions that we need to catch up not only to the teachers that are leading the charge but the students as well. The world has changed, students have changed, we must change.
    Talk to you soon buddy!