I recently read an article by Don Tapscott, a university president, that fits perfectly with what I have observed as a supervisor of schools over the past eight years and as a current middle school principal in Southern California. Speaking to my colleagues, I hear a similar story from around the nation.
This is a story about how our secondary aged students learn, as much as it is about how our secondary teachers teach. Why is this important? It is important to me because our job as educators is about student learning, more than it is about teachers teaching. What does this mean? I learned as a teacher and as a principal, it did not matter how exciting, dynamic, or refreshing a lesson was as presented by a teacher, if it did not lead to improved student learning. Once I realized this, it became more important to me to assess teachers on what students understood about the lesson being presented, what they learned from the lesson, and how would they show what they have learned from the lesson. This administrative style was a little nerve racking for some of my teachers at first, but once most saw that it changed the way teachers planned their lessons, taught their lessons, and assessed student learning, the easier it became for most of the school staff to accept.
Changing the paradigm of school and the classroom is not easy. It is for this reason that educators need to have a deep understanding of what the 21st century world looks like and what is expected of our students when they reach adulthood. We have not spent much time considering the experiences that our kids bring to school, and what our national workforce requires of them. These are not the same experiences that most teachers prepared for when they were in middle and high school.
Dr. Tapscott calls our current students Net Geners (Net Generation). They have known and grown with technology and the internet since they were born. They may have never taken a touch typing class but they probably are more fluid and much faster on the keyboard of a computer than most adults. I know that is true of my two sons. They use technology to find information, to use information, and to sometimes inappropriately share information. They multi-task all of the time using their cell phone, Nintendo, and IPod, all at the same time. They learn in a technology enriched multi-tasking world. At least they do until most of them enter the gates of school each day.
Most of our schools are educating 21st century students using 20th century instructional tools and assessments. For the good of our students, our city, and our society we need to reach out to our students with the learning tools that best fit their experiences and the countries workforce requirements. I have asked many principals over the past years if they were aware of the SCANS report, and most say they had not heard of it. And yet this report sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor that came out toward the end of the 20th century was telling educators of the changing needs of the workforce in America. How can schools change if the educators are not aware early on of what changes are needed?
Now we know more about the requirements for the 21st century. Many people have read The World is Flat and similar books that have been published in recent years. Many people have seen the video clip, Shift Happens, that is available on the web. Many people have viewed the video, 2 Million Minutes, the story of top academic students in the United States, India, and China, and shows the differences in life style and education for the three nations. Are we competitive now in the current global economy? Will we be competitive in ten, fifteen, twenty years from now in the growing global economy? Unless we can answer yes to these questions, and others, our nation will not hold the high level of esteem that most of us have believe existed since we were born.
Net Generation students do not learn as well using post Gutenberg model world instructional tools. They read differently, their attention is focused differently, and they question information differently. They will not be well prepared to work on an assembly line, but what will we the educators help them to be prepared to do? There may be few, but we do have school models that we can visit and learn from. One of those models that prepares students for the 21st century world is the New Tech High School model. I have worked with several of these types of high schools, and saw first hand that when implemented well, our students can achieve at levels beyond the expectations that many adults hold for them.
We need to see the urgency for paradigm shifting. This need has direct impact on our own economic well being, and on the well being of this nation. Without change the economy of this country will not be able to recover from the current depressed state that it is in. I hope that all educators choose to find time to discuss the issues that 21st century education requires us to have to have answers for. We need those conversations to occur now, not in the future. I hope that this topic will spark conversation on this blog and in faculty meetings around the country.
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I am often asked, “Daniel, what is the best way to incorporate a (technology product) in my classroom?” It is an amusing question because the question generates more questions for me. Is the teacher asking because “the tech guy” is on site and it just so happens that the latest widget in the classroom is now in the brink of obselence and directions are needed on how to use it? More importantly, what happens after the basics are learned and the unit is now functional? How would it be used? Would it actually lead to student achievement? Over the past several decades, staggering billions of dollars have been spent equipping classrooms with the latest instructional technology. Schools around the country are obsessed with regularly refreshing computer equipment which they use as a tool and a topic. While the widgets and gadgets may have changed, the teaching practice has not.
My real answer to the first question is to change your teaching practice. I cannot overstate the fact that the students of today are digital natives and educators tend to teach them in the same way they were taught. I would prefer that people come to me because I am a teacher, not because I happen to know how to operate some gadgets. I would prefer teachers, students and parent come to be with the realization that whatever we are doing in the classroom and the skills they are taught may not be a good fit for today’s realities. We are teaching 21st century students with 20th (or even 19th) century instructional strategies.
I would really prefer that people ask about 21st century skills. We now know that this world is flattening, shifts are happening, and our students have at least 2 million minutes to prepare themselves to compete with the rest of the world. And it is not about who has the latest whiz bang gizmo technology. 21st century skills refer to SKILLS not devices that require electricity. It refers to appropriate, effective and meaningful teaching and learning. "21st century skills" is about how to use information (which is now readily available through the internet) and create new knowledge. 21st century skills is about how to work with others (who you may not agree with), how to use tools and technology (some of which may not be invented yet). Schools are now beginning to recognize this and those who are yet to discover this shift in paradigm, the focus is to acquire the latest and the greatest gadgets. After all, it is the lowest hanging fruit.
My work requires me to regularly visit schools, classroom and meet with teachers. I am learning that the barrier to implementation of instructional technology is not the lack of technology. Good and effective instruction takes place with or without technology. Educators must teach in a different way. Teaching differently may require using other sources besides worksheets and textbooks. Learning differently might actually require students to collaborate by moving around the classroom and talking to each other. Teaching and learning differently require the identification of barriers and fixes, a review of the curriculum, building structures and establishing personalized relationships. Until this happens, let’s save money and buy less “stuff.”
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