21st Century Skills - Beyond the Buzzwords

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Annie_Condron]Annie Condron

Education is a field filled with buzzwords, from RTI to collaborative development to differentiated instruction to student-centered learning and beyond. The latest trend in this time of "change" is 21st century skills.

21st century skills encapsulate all that teachers have been begging for in the post-NCLB era: creativity, problem-solving and learning beyond fact recitation. Like most ed buzz words, this one emanates from a genuine, intelligent approach to preparing kids for their future. This approach would free teachers from the stifling bonds of NCLB and it just makes sense.

After pleas from teachers, Obama has picked up the 21st century skills torch and is blazing it through policy, tackling the easiest aspect first. Technology in the classroom is a commonsense factor to 21st century learning since ours is the internet age. Obama plans to fund computer and broadband access in schools nationwide. But tackling tech is the easy part. Implementing it on a nationwide policy level will be harder than installing computers. How do you give a standardized test on creativity? This murkiness led one Washington Post writer calls 21st century skills "a pipe dream whose literature should be tossed in the trash."

Personally, I'm reminded of an episode from The Office. The inept boss, Michael, asks the receptionist, Pam, to write down "everyone's indefinable qualities. Just write down what people are doing all day in a way that is helpful."

Later on, he asks about their scores from the day.

Pam: "I think they're even. At various times, you gave Jim 10 points, Dwight a gold star and Stanley a thumbs up. I'm don't really know how to compare those units."

Michael: "Check if there's a conversion chart in the notebook."

Turns out, there isn't a conversion chart.

And so goes the problem with generically testing for "the kinds of research, scientific investigation, and problem solving that our children will need to compete in a 21st-century knowledge economy." (Obama)

Regardless of how difficult and complex it will be to make this shift, I agree with policy analyst Elena Silva:

Whether or not the trendy label of "21st-century skills" lasts, says Elena Silva, a senior policy analyst at the Education Sector in Washington, what's important is the evolving research on how people learn. Teachers were long taught to cover content first and wait for children to get older before having them apply it, she says, but now research shows that "people learn best by learning content at the same time they are acquiring [and applying] new skills."

Annie Condron is the Editor in Chief at TeachHUB.com. TeachHUB.com is a new, online resource center designed by teachers, for teachers and is tailored to address the everyday needs of teachers both inside and outside of the classroom. To read more articles from Annie Condron as well as access other teacher recommended education tools, visit [http://www.TeachHUB.com]http://www.TeachHUB.com.

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Who Am I This Time? Role-Taking For 21st Century Learning and Growth By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Nicholas_Wolff]Nicholas Wolff

Merlin the Magician, according to legend, trained the boy who would become King Arthur by transforming him into various animals through which he experienced different ways of thinking about power and groups. As a snow goose, he participates in a peaceful culture in which leaders are chosen based on their ability to navigate. Things are quite the opposite when he is turned into a falcon and nearly killed when a competitor picks a fight with him, or a fish when he is nearly devoured by a much bigger one. As an ant he can only adapt by becoming robotic, hearing "a noise in his head, like a song on the radio that repeats over and over, and he hears a voice, constantly giving him directions," because the ant culture has eliminated independent thought.

Merlin's method would be called "role-taking" in our world, a learning method that is powerfully effective for internalizing an unfamiliar skill or new information, e.g In a recent training seminar, employees of a large non-profit institution that serves the general public were reeling from the consequences of severe cutbacks directly due to donor money that disappeared down the Bernie Madoff rabbit hole. The employees felt understandably defensive and victimized, sandwiched between what felt like an indifferent and distant administration and unforgiving public. We used role-taking to help them view their daily stresses from a number of perspectives: long-term patrons with expectations that could no longer be met; newer patrons who were demanding and unappreciative; empathetic patrons; immediate supervisors; unavailable admnistrators; donors to the institution; investors who lost millions of dollars and shut down entire foundations. This role-taking exercise allowed emotional expression without too much personal exposure and united the group as they explored and practiced a variety of strategies for dealing with the daily frustrations.

Studies show that new learning acquired through direct participation is internalized more rapidly, something critically important in today's atmosphere of accelerated change. Here are some examples from the literature:

Educational Perspectives published an article describing the work of a Winnipeg, Manitoba science teacher who teaches about particle theory by having students "become," and tell stories as, actual particles. They integrate such complex concepts as conductivity and kinetic energy, interacting in skits, plays, puppet shows."[1] She also uses role-play to teach about the heart and circulation system by transforming the entire classroom into the heart system, using tarps and other props, the kids making the pumping and gushing sounds, and people in from outside the room treated as antigens.

The Astronomical Society of Australia studied the use of experiential methods in astronomy and physics classes. "Conventionally taught students tend to rote-learn," the researchers report, "they fail to integrate their new knowledge into their prior assumptions, and rarely think through the implications of what they learn,"[2] The study involved an interactive class assignment designed to teach about the formation of planets and stars through an imaginative, collaborative process. The students were told that each of them were to imagine themselves to be "world experts in some branch of astrophysics. Just as in the real world, however, no single group can hope to know enough to solve this difficult problem alone. You will have to exchange information with many other groups to devise a complete picture, and win the undying glory of being first to figure out how stars and planets form....Take a few minutes to read your briefing sheets, and discuss what you have learned amongst yourselves. Once you've figured out your own areas of expertise, you will have to exchange information with the other groups. Anything goes; you are allowed to form consortia, lie, cheat, steal, bribe: anything to figure out a complete picture. But bear in mind that unless you share information with other people, they will not share information with you...Your goal is to put all the information you will learn from the other groups together, to make a coherent theory of star and planet formation."[iv]
Results showed that students internalized the necessary knowledge at the same rate as in a lecture format, and that active fostered an observably more friendly and interactive classroom.

The integration of creativity, intellectual challenge, emotional connection, and personal interaction allows trainees/students to practice skills that actualize new information and real-time use of social networks, making these methods fantastic innovations for 21st century training and education.

[1] Margo Hrennikoff, "Implementing An Imaginative Unit," Educational Perspectives 39.2 (2006): 25.

[2]Paul J. Francis and Aidan P. Byrne, "The Use of Role-Playing Exercises in Teaching Undergraduate Astronomy and Physics," Astronomical Society of Australia 16 (1999): 206.

Nicholas Wolff is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Board Certified Diplomate and Trainer, Educator and Practitioner of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy who designs experiential seminars and training groups for professionals in health care, education, forensics and corporate settings. His website is [http://www.lifestage.org]http://www.lifestage.org.

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Beware of Leaving Other Humans in the Dust - No One Will Know What to Make of You

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow]Lance Winslow

Many futurists thinkers are so intelligent and so far off in the future in their thoughts that they tend to leave all of their followers, readers, and listeners in the dust. Predicting the future 5 to 10 years out is not all that hard to do. Accurate prediction of five years out is fairly easy, and predicting 10 years out can be done if you watch the macro or micro trends surrounding various industries, watching how they all come together and interact.

Predicting 20 years in the future is rather difficult as the author of the "Black Swan" has so eloquently stated. But this does not mean it's impossible, and if such futurist prediction is done correctly, and carefully explained to the reader then everything seems to work out right and the futurist can make a compelling argument. Even if that "potential future" will never come to be and most everyone knows it.

The Real Challenge is;

Invariably what ends up happening is a futurist will talking about things that are 30 to 50 years in the future. They might even start talking about Star Trek transporters, wormholes space travel, and even time travel. It's not that all this won't someday be figured out; it's that the viewer of such predictions cannot wrap their minds around it.

If you get that far out into the future people just won't know what to make of you. So, all futurists need to beware of leaving other human minds in the dust when making these types of predictions, otherwise they won't know what to think of you. Interestingly enough, most things do not change that fast, after all besides the Internet, and mobile technology life is pretty much the same as it was 20 years ago.

Do you see that point? However, in the last five years the changes in the Internet have been astounding, and most of the predictions were incorrect. Think about that for a second, and you will soon come to the realization of why this topic is so important.

Lance Winslow - [http://www.aircraftwashguys.com/historicals.shtml]Lance Winslow's Bio. Lance Winslow thinks you should talk over these issues with your family; [http://www.familycells.com]familycells.com

Note: All of Lance Winslow's articles are written by him, not by Automated Software, any Computer Program, or Artificially Intelligent Software. None of his articles are outsourced, PLR Content or written by ghost writers. Lance Winslow believes those who use these strategies lack integrity and mislead the reader. Indeed, those who use such cheating tools, crutches, and tricks of the trade may even be breaking the law by misleading the consumer and misrepresenting themselves in online marketing, which he finds completely unacceptable.

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Online Education - Revolutionizing Learning

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jaspal_Kittu]Jaspal Kittu

Our world is changing perceptibly everyday. The technological boom has revolutionized the way humans function. Innovative methods are emerging to substitute the traditional ways of working. We can discern perceptible change in the education sectors, wherein both students and educators are turning to information and technology to improve the quality and speed of learning.

Education has entered a new phase where Internet is fast becoming an important supplement to the traditional means of education like textbooks and classrooms. In the past decade, the shortcomings of classroom learning have become more evident. As a result, the youth is turning towards online guidance to help them cope with the excessive workload, which has eventually made elearning, live virtual class, online tutor and discussion forums as popular study choices of today's generation.

Education is an investment for future. And online education is the most rapidly growing dimension of the education sector. Higher educational institutes have increasingly embraced online education and the number of students enrolled in distance programs is rapidly rising in colleges and universities throughout the world.

The many advantages of online education have made it an indispensible tool in today's age. It help provides an unmatched autonomy to the learners. With increasing competition, additional professional qualifications have become mandatory and online courses provide an easy option to pursue the desired additional course with ease. Even the online study materials are easily accessible from anywhere, anytime.

The best part about online education is that the classes are quite flexible which even give students the power to control their learning environment, as in moving through their syllabus at their own pace. This nullifies the need for private tutoring as students can easily access the educational sites to get immediate assistance from online tutors. Round the clock availability of online help makes for a thorough understanding of complex subjects, thus, helping the student in securing that crucial extra mark.

The convergence of Internet and education has made learning possible anytime, anywhere. Due to Internet technology, the learning process has become decentralized. Students can live in a remote village but even then can have easy access to the pioneers and experts in whatever field of knowledge they want. This gives them both cost effective and flexible learning support right from the comfort of their homes.

Not only this, online education also incorporates innovative learning tools which make studying out an out a fun process. The elements incorporated in virtual teaching help in transforming any moron subject material, subject and topic into an intriguing one.

It's true that online education offers good quality multimedia tools to make studying a better experience. Infact, the additional usage of colors, images, figures, videos and audio help make difficult concepts all the more interesting and easy to memorize. This approach to study definitely increases the attention span, thus, improving the recall speed and better retention. Afterall, making learning more fun -- or interesting -- is what makes it more effective.

Online education facilitates a more interactive learning environment as students can easily avail the Class on Demand service to interact with the online tutor and as well discuss their doubts and queries without hesitation. These online tutors provide both academic support and counseling to motivate the students who later on try giving their best shot by excelling in their academic pursuits.

Extramarks brings students, teachers and parents together on a single platform to ensure that a child excels academically. To know more about online education, [http://www.extramarks.com/products/?tab=mindmap]online education, e-tutorial, school education support, CBSE, ICSE, and Rajasthan Board, log on to http://www.extramarks.com

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What is Home Schooling About?

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=George_Preston]George Preston

Home schooling is the act of educating one's children primarily at home and in a family setting, with a parent or guardian as teacher. The term can apply equally to children in the K-12 range who fall under his or her state's compulsory attendance laws.

Home school is kind of similar to building a house -- you need to determine your plan, gather your materials, and make sure that you have the right tools for the job. Take your time to read, look around, compare notes on different ways of teaching. It is legal in all 50 states, and 37 states actually have some statutes or regulations specifically geared for home schooling. There are also home school organizations running in every state, and children that are schooled at home tend to score higher, on average, than their publicly schooled peers.

Families will choose to school their children at home instead of sending them to public schools for a variety of different reasons. This kind of schooling can help parents and children form strong bonds with one another. And nowadays, families are spending their educational dollars as they see fit, and educational entrepreneurs are trailblazing the way by creating a wide-ranging marketplace of goods and services for this market. It's not just about mom and the kids around the kitchen table now -- it's becoming a new educational model.

Home school programs are a great choice for many different kinds of students and families. They are most generally used by families with children between the grades of 5th and 12th. These programs are ideal for those children who are prevented from attending a regular high school due to some personal problems, financial troubles or poor health, among other things.

To learn much more about a home school program visit http://HomeSchoolCurriculumHelp.com/home-school-program.php to find out more about home school help of all kinds, including programs and curriculums.

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Artificial Intelligence - Available Now

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=John_Dir]John Dir

Whenever a person wants to present themselves as an industry expert, one credible approach is to paint a shining picture of future technology and what people can expect from hopeful visions of things to come. One potential that has long bothered me is the current general perception of artificial intelligence technology.

There are a few key concepts that are not often included in the general discussion of creating machines that think and act like us. First, the problem with artificial intelligence is that it is artificial. Trying to create machines that work like the human brain and its special creative properties has always seemed useless to me. We already have people to do all that. If we succeed in generating a system that is every bit as able as the human brain to create and solve problems, such an achievement will also result in the same limitations. There is no benefit in creating an artificial life form that can surpass us to further degrade the value of humanity. Creating machines to enhance and compliment the wonders of human thinking does have many appealing benefits. One significant plus to building artificially intelligent systems is the benefit of the teaching process. Like people, machines have to be taught what we want them to learn, but unlike us, the methods used to imprint machine instructions can be accomplished in a single pass.

Our brains allow us to selectively flush out information we do not want to retain, and are geared for a learning process based on repetition to imprint a long term memory. Machines cannot “forget” what they are taught unless they are damaged, reach their memory capacity, or they are specifically instructed to erase the information they are tasked to retain. This makes machines great candidates for performing all the tediously repetitive tasks, and storing all the information we do not want to burden ourselves with absorbing. With a little creativity, computers can be adjusted to respond to people in ways that are more pleasing to the human experience, without the need to actually replicate the processes that comprise this experience. We can already teach machines to issue polite responses, offer helpful hints, and walk us through learning processes that mimic the niceties of human interaction, without requiring machines to actually understand the nuances of what they are doing. Machines can repeat these actions because a person has programmed them to execute the instructions that offer these results. If a person wants to take the time to impress aspects of presenting their own personality into a sequence of mechanical instructions, computers can faithfully repeat these processes when called upon to do so.

In today’s market place, most software developers do not add on the extra effort that is required to make their applications seem more polite and conservatively friendly to the end users. If the commercial appeal for doing this was more apparent, more software vendors would race to jump onto this bandwagon. Since the consuming public understands so little about how computers really work, many people seem to be nervous about machines that project a personality that is too human in the flavor of its interaction with people. A computer personality is only as good as the creativity of its originator, which can be quite entertaining. For this reason, if computers with personality are to gain ground in their appeal, friendlier system design should incorporate a partnering with end users themselves in building and understanding how this artificial personality is constructed. When a new direction is needed, a person can incorporate that information into the process, and the machine learns this new aspect as well.

People can teach a computer how to cover all contingencies that arise in accomplishing a given purpose for managing information. We do not have to take ourselves out of the loop in training computers how to work with people. The goal of achieving the highest form of artificial intelligence, self-teaching computers, also reflects the highest form of human laziness. My objective in design is to accomplish a system that will do the things I want it to do, without having to deal with negotiating over what the system wants to do instead. This approach is already easier to achieve than most people think, but requires consumer interest to become more prevalent.

John Dir
LittleTek Center
Check out our information channel and free softtware at http://home.earthlink.net/~jdir/

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LMS Means Quality Education

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Robin_L._Green]Robin L. Green

Education feeds the mind and is the starting point of every human activity. If education is jeopardized especially in the school, then what is the purpose of getting one? If the students are not able to gain knowledge to nurture them for the future, then what achievement do they get from going to school?

In America, the quality of public school education has declined because of the recorded violence that happens during school days. School violence has been listed as one of the serious problems that make excellent curriculum, competent teachers, and great facilities futile because students' learning is disturbed. Among the recorded and "popular" school violence include bullying, fighting, gang activity, gun use, and locker thefts. Ostensibly, one cannot blame the student attackers who start these kinds of aggression, nor can one condemn the parents for not imposing discipline over their children. More so, the local government can only do as much to enforce regulations and ordinances to obviate school violence and to terminate it when it happens.

Clearly the school is laden with this vicious problem on violence. In the past, the U.S. Department of Education elaborated that there is no one anti-violence program that could solve the problem across all schools. The system of individual schools can only be suited for a specific academic institution because of demographics; hence, there is no ubiquitous anti-violence intervention, policy, and program.

As the key player to this problem, school administrators can design a program that will potentially dart the issue at core. A solution that can be declared universal is the Learning Management System or LMS. The LMS is software that tracks, delivers, serves, and manages education and training. Many popular LMS's are internet-based to assist learning monitoring online, used to cater to different administrative, deployment, and educational prerequisite. It provides a central point for training and learning development work. The LMS can provide quantifiable results - where a classroom set-up may not.

If school violence is attributed to the physical and personal interaction of students, then the LMS is the best solution to disconnect the hostile relationship. Virtual learning can allow a more effective exchange of information among students because it streamlines idle times that would have spent over settling gang fights, for instance. Discussions and learning become focused and intensive because of the absence of unnecessary distractions from the environment. Likewise, the students are trained to become more interactive with a positive sense through the use of multimedia, and other technology benefits; hence turning learning more interesting and effective. Teachers can automatically test the knowledge and competency of the students using the LMS.

A learning management system is flexible and versatile that could resolve the problem of school violence in the country. The LMS has so much to offer which could re-boost the quality of education in public schools. It is in the hands of the school administrators to make things happen and ignite change to uplift the status of education in America.

Public schools get free access to Coggno's [http://www.coggno.com/]Learning Management System and create educational content for eLearning. Visit http://www.coggno.com and create your free account.

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