Thinking of the Future Part 2- A Need to Assess for the Future

Parents frequently ask school administrators questions like  “How is my child doing?” or “How is our school doing?” Both are important questions, but are they the right ones? Shouldn’t they be asking “Is our school providing my child with an educational background that will support him during the 21^st century?” This is the important question that needs to be answered. As educational reform is at a constant, we need to look to our schools for answers as to why children are falling behind in the 21st century global competition. The biggest theme for educating our students into the future will be assessing 21st century skills.

The challenge of assessing 21st century skills  was brought to me by my principal.       " Brendan you keep talking about these 21st century skills, I love the idea of  but besides standardized tests what do you use to assess them?" "Find me some assessments and I look into using it". I think he was just trying to brush me off, but I took it to heart. The question I needed to find out was  what can we do to measure our students to see if they can be globally competitive?

Standardized tests aren't even fair for everyone

Like my principal most look to the standardized test to see the results on how the school is doing, but does that assess a student of the future? With the connection between standardized tests and Race to the Top, Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and No Child left Behind (NCLB) principals and superintendents are under exorbitant amount of pressure to get students to perform on standardized tests. But by continually using the misconception that today’s standardized tests measure student growth to compete in a 21st century we create an educational falsehood.  This bureaucratic belief dominates educational forums so much so that we seem forget that helping our students learn is the top priority. Giving them the tools to compete in an ever advancing global society must become our objective.

As I researched the challenge of finding 21st century assessments I was astonished to find a plethora of assessments that do have different skill sets that incorporate 21st century skills. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Geography Assessment exams are designed to measure the geography knowledge and skills of fourth, eighth, and twelfth-graders. The assessment targets three categories of cognitive skills knowing, understanding, applying and three categories of content knowledge Space and Place, Environment and Society, and Spatial Dynamics and Connections. The Assessment of Civic Skills Acquisition among Adolescents is an elementary school exam that measures civic skills within four core public skill areas: communication, organization, collective decision-making, and critical thinking. NAEP Civics Test (grades 4, 8 and 12) Elementary, Middle and High school exam comprising of short constructed-response and extended-constructed response questions, organized into three main categories: civic knowledge, intellectual skills and civic dispositions. The Jump$tart Assessment of Financial Literacy targets middle school students. The items measure what Jump$tart Coalition members believe to be essential financial knowledge. This content includes income, money management, saving, and spending. NCEE Assessments: Basic EcTest, Test of Economic Knowledge, and Test of Economic Literacy elementary, middle and high school test of economics understanding for grades 5 and 6. The Test of Economics Knowledge (TEK) is a middle school test designed to measure economics knowledge in grades 7 through 9. The Test of Economic Literacy (TEL) is a high school level measure based on the national standards. The Assessment of Analytic Reasoning and Communication Skills, The Council on Aid to Education (CAE)’s assessment measures analytic reasoning, critical thinking, problem-solving, and applied written communication skills Test-takers address realistic problems across a range of contexts (e.g. arts and humanities, business, science, and social science) students analyze the validity of an argument and communicate their thinking effectively in writing. Cornell Critical Thinking Tests these tests developed by two Cornell University professors Robert Ennis and Jason Millman. The test is appropriate for assessing the critical thinking abilities of students in grades 4 through 14. It focuses on deduction, credibility, and identification of assumptions. It is open ended. Tasks in Critical Thinking this is elementary through high school exam that yields scores on inquiry, analysis, and communication. It contains nine essay and short answer tasks, three each in the humanities, social science, and natural science. Inquiry relates to how well test takers are able to plan a search, use methods of discovery, comprehend and extract, and sort and evaluate. Finally the NETS Online Technology Assessment  targets middle school students on a performance-based assessment that  focuses on the  twelve 30-minute activities  and requires  students to use a variety of Microsoft’s most commonly used Office applications Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer, Outlook, Access and FrontPage - to complete authentic, real-world tasks. 
 All of these assessments incorporate some 21st century skills. The main problem is the cost of these assessments.  Government statements say the cost to systematically test problem-solving, collaboration, and presentation skills across all U.S. schools is just too expensive.  It may be expensive now but having our students fall behind in the global competition will cost the US even more in the future.

       So, as I show my results to my principal I wonder whether he well actually look at my findings or just put them aside. The great part of this experience is that as I look forward into my administive career I'll know that these assessments are out there and i'll have the tools to assess my students for the future.

Designing a 21st century Classroom

 








Which classroom would you like your child to be in?

This is the question we must ask ourselves as we look for answers to why our children are falling behind in the 21st century global competition. To compete in this competition, classrooms need collaborative learning, technology and a rich environment like the third picture towards the bottom. The picture shows a classroom where innovation and teamwork can occur. Where students can stand share ideas with one another the teacher acts as a facilitator. As I look at the other two pictures the scene is familiar: A teacher stands at the front of a room. Children sit in the center, their seats arranged in rows. There is a chalkboard, a wall map, and a teacher driven lesson. These are classrooms in 2010 and 1910.  Although the details may vary, school design has seen few changes in the past  hundred years.

Look at the difference when you add computer to this scene. When you see a projector, a SMART board. These items enrich a classroom. They are just the tip of the iceberg when designing a technologically-rich school for the 21st century. Don't get me wrong, 21st century learning means more than simply plugging in the equipment. Those items are only tools to help us for the real learning through computer networking, video conferencing. New approaches to learning make traditional classroom configurations impractical and obsolete. The schools of tomorrow are already exponientially changing to help us compete in the 21st century.

When watching Designing Schools for 21st Century Learning architect Randall Fleming took us through the idea process in how to create a 21st century school building. The ideas of more natural light through bigger windows, the option of a closed or open space through garage doors, making rooms comfortable and secure these are the elements that contribute to stimulation of the senses. His designs are well researched and developed to create a stimulus rich environment. The design of the environment being a part of the curriculum which enriches our senses to be innovative and creative is one that is used today in classrooms through word walls and centers. As he points out in the end of the video the factory job is becoming obsolete, as the world moves towards an innovative era we need to support 21st century learning to compete. His schools designs stimulate students to develop 21st century skills while feeling secure.

One eye opening realization I had during the video is when Randal discusses research on parents and babies. Parents put murals and mobiles over the crib to stimulate the baby’s environment to learn. Thinking about that idea I picture babies really interacting with their environment and learning from it. Transmit that idea to my classroom and I feel I need to create a richer more interactive environment to stimulate my students more.

No one knows for certain what the future in education will look like. But I know that with the ever increasing need for 21st century skills the only way to develop and enhance those skills is to choose classroom #3.





Links for class 6

Project based schools
http://bit.ly/b8UfBf


Designing a 21st century school

http://newlearninginstitute.org/21stcenturyeducation/student-centered-learning/designing-schools-for-21st-century-learning.html-

Blooming Questions

So what is 21st century classroom look like?  It is adaptive, creative, collaborative, and complex.  It breaks the educational mold. It addresses a rapidly changing world filled with amazing new problems as well as exciting new possibilities.  Fortunately, we have living proof, and examples to follow, as we saw through our exercise today.

As I breakdown The Bloom’s Taxonomy exercises in class today.  There were many of the essential themes of the 21^st century skills that enriched the lesson. These components brought forth a student driven approach that forces students to take ownership of their learning.

Using critical thinking/ problem solving we critiqued the questions that we created which dealt with specified problems on how to enhance questions using Bloom’s taxonomy. Students made complex choices and decisions on criteria. We analyzed, and made informed judgments about the questions. After critically thinking about ways to enhance the questions, papers were given to students to then reflect/ compare/ contrast on the points made by the other groups and came to a solution to the problem which was the better questions. Communication was an interesting component because we had to articulate our thoughts clearly and effectively through speaking and writing so that the questions would specifically target what outcomes we were looking for. Collaboration was relevant when we worked effectively together as a diverse team.  One of the key components to working together was our ability to be flexible, and our willingness to make compromises to reach the common goal of finding the three questions. Creativity characteristic came out when invented original questions about the 21^st century skills but the second component was when we had to come up with an imaginative way to enhance the other group’s questions. We had to be open and responsive to the different perspective of having the other group changing/ enhance our questions as well. Innovation was evident in thinking/ developing/ and communicating new original questions based on the essential questions of the PD. We had to be Adaptive to each other’s questions plus the evolving class assignment from the different step it took.

I felt the structure of the lesson was right on point. It was a disguised lesson in which we learned to develop higher order questions using Bloom’s Taxonomy but also (hidden part) used 21^st century skills to develop those questions (pretty crafty).  I feel the lesson was simple yet loaded with components that achieved its objective. I thought about putting a discussion about why we choose those essential questions or how are we going to answer those essential questions, but I realize that wasn’t the desired outcome of the lesson. One interesting realization I made after the lesson (it’s only because of discussion with colleagues about technology in the classroom and the question of how do we teach 21^st century goals without technology?) was we didn’t use technology while using the 21^st century skills tools. This is a great lesson to prove to the nay- sayers who always look for that excuse not to evolve as a teacher.

Today’s work environment required far more than thinking skills and content knowledge. Learning ability to navigate through complex discussions required us to pay rigorous attention to developing ideas and concerns. As I play through the activity in my mind I felt how affective the student driven approach to 21^st century skills are. There were many things that I was experiencing during the exercise that I didn’t really think about until I reflected on it. The exercise really showed the correlation between a classroom environment and the workplace. We had to be flexible and adaptable with ideas presented in our groups. Being flexible but keeping to our beliefs was fun when we tried to word the different questions. We also had to work effectively as our priorities changed through exercise. Those are two characteristics in the working world that are a must to have with the ever changing and rigorous global world. We also took initiative to express our ideas to each other which was the first steps in a series of actions that led us to our goals. This characteristic is important because if you get caught sleeping in the real would you will be left behind. We had a high productivity level with everyone interjecting their ideas. If you’re not productive out in the workforce you will be out of a job fast. We showed great leadership and accountability. We were responsible to our facilitator for the outcomes of the exercise and we showed leadership through different people who took charge in their groups to map out their goals. These qualities are all evident in our exercise and they are life and career skills that will make students productive citizens in a global society.

Through discussions, it has become apparent that in addition to deep subject knowledge students must develop 21st century skills like creativity, critical thinking and problem solving, to succeed in today's world. If we do not create an education system that intentionally combines knowledge and skills, our students and country will be ill equipped to compete with their international peers.

Slumdog Education

If someone asked me what do you think would happen if  children living in povern stricken India, without any computer skills, suddenly gained access to a computer with high speed Internet?  I probably say sounds like the beginnings of outsourcing. No, all kidding aside I would have thought the children wouldn't know what to do with it because of there lack of experience in using it.

Boy, did Sugata Mitra prove me wrong.

In his series of educational experiments giving kids access to the Internet through  public kiosk in remote areas of India was an eye opener. The " Hole In The Wall"   project,  has installed computers with Internet connection in  remote locations around India for local children to discover it's wonders. He found that the children began to teach themselves math skills, browsing, and amazingly enough English  through social networking.  

As I think about the experiment more and more I can't say I'm surprised about the children's reaction to the kiosk.The  learning style of young children is curious by nature, having an instinct to make sense of the world around them.  They have a strong sense of need to examine and explore. As children we are constantly touch and watching things that interest us. In a classroom situation children are often passive learners where they hear constant lectures, but given a computer the children become more active learners because of their curiosity

What was unexpected and so amazing was the ability of these children to learn on their own from a machine they had never used or likely even seen, plus the problem of the language barrier in which they overcame. There were no teachers involved and no curriculum to follow. Their curiosity and ambition to learn, was the driving force to find out  what this kiosk could do. What was also incredible to see was the collaboration between children at the kiosk. Helping each other as they were learning. This not only speaks volumes of children’s ability to learn, but also of the power of social networks in learning. These social networks drove the yearning to learn more from these kiosks without fear of being wrong. The social setting  allows for a pressure free environment where students can make mistakes freely without the pressures of the standard classroom. For me Mitra experiment shows the power technology and social/collaborative learning. 

As I think about my own school as compared to these Kiosks, I feel the need to empower these students more. If students in remote India learn English and math skills off a kiosk out in public, what could my students do if they had a laptop in front of them. The time has changed for the teachers in my school to be lecturers to students who have 5 minute attention spans.We need to act more like facilitators and let students explored structured Internet lessons that allow them to learn from one another and at there own pace.

I hold steadfast to the belief that the more technology you introduce to the students, the more they are going to be actively engaged in what you are teaching. Students not only observe the world but also want to operate it, they are constantly trying to explore and process the world around them.  On their own or with their friends they have a curiosity that makes them want to understand how everything works.

Thinking of the Future Part 1

Education is more important today than ever for the children who are competing against children around the world for and jobs.  In order for the United States to hold a high standing, we need to change things internally in the classroom. When we remain focused on intelligence and testing, we miss out on an important truism: The most intelligent people aren’t the ones who score advanced proficient on their NJASK test.  Curiosity and creativity are the new intelligences that will promote a student to a better job in the future; these two traits in the classroom are better indicators of students' willingness to transfer knowledge into long-term interests and careers. We need to ask whether the goals of teaching children is for them to do well on tests or find creative ways to problem solve societies most challenges and complex problems. If it is the latter, the obsession with intelligence and standardized tests needs to be re-considered and curiosity and creativity needs to be brought to the forefront in the classroom.

Another theme that needs to be addressed is leadership in our schools. I don’t feel that the leadership we have today in education is going to help the students of tomorrow. In looking at the global trends that we see today in society and all the technological advances that are changing right before our eyes and I can’t help but feel discouraged. From looking at research that continues to blow my mind I don’t know how we are going to educate students for tomorrow when we are now educating them for a job in the 1960’s. I feel we need a radical change in leadership is needed. Someone up in the hire ranks needs to heed the warning that even Bill Gates is saying for some time, “Our Schools are becoming obsolete”.

Finally the idea of school itself may need a change. Students are learning more and more through the internet and gaming. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/1879019.stm.  "Adventure, quest and simulation type games have a lot of benefit - they're quite complex and create a context in which children can develop important skills," said Professor McFarlane.  I strongly feel that this is an avenue in which the education needs to explore.  More and more students are connected worldwide with each other. To connect these pools of knowledge in the classroom through gaming and the internet could only help students realize the vastness and opportunity that awaits them when they graduate.

“When the rate of change outside an organization is greater than the rate of change inside an organization, the end is in sight”-Jack Welch

This quote rings true for me as I think about public education in exponential times that we face.

It's a Flat World, After All

This is not a test.


It’s an emergency! The rise of Flatism in our world today has not only leveled the playing field for competing countries against the U.S. in the Global market, it has put us at a disadvantage and we have no one to blame but ourselves . With the dot-com boom in the 1990’s Americans Companies footed the bill for other countries to gain access to the information through the construction of the internet. We threw billions at designing fiber optic cables that run across the world right to our competitor’s front door. They now use that access to connect all the knowledge pools in the world without any of massive costs to get there. These countries were able to leapfrog over the industry age and straight into the technology age. We are no longer the leaders of the Globalization age. We are the ones falling behind.

With the combination of technology, a booming population and rich educational heritage countries like India and China, not only now have the ability to compete in the Global market but now are taking it over. The mindset of these countries to “never rest” and our false sense of entitlement America is falling behind in innovations.

The big question is left for Americans to answer. In the International Competition of Globalization how are Americans going to catch up?

“It’s a Flat World After All,” by Thomas Friedman, is a call to arms article that has fascinating points to it. One point that I find most intriguing is the part of the article where Bill Gates warned the governor’s conference in telling them that American High schools are “obsolete”. When he compares our fourth graders to the rest of the world’s we are on top, but we are in the middle of the pack when it comes to our eighth graders and by 12th grade we are scoring near the bottom. How can that be? The United States is at the top of the list when it comes to spending money for its students. (http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2008/09/does-spending-more-on-education-improve-academic-achievement) So what is causing the gap between our students and the rest of the world? Obliviously, throwing money at the situation is not the problem or the solution. We need to find a way to change this continuing downward spiral.

This article raises some concerns and questions. One question is how do we motive American students to become engineers in the Innovative Era? With India graduating a million more students than the US and China graduating six times as many engineers, one wonders if we will ever be able to catch up. When I asked students in my district if any wanted to become engineers most didn’t even know what an engineer does. Scary! Another question is, what are we doing to help teachers between 4th and 12th grade close the gap between the US and competing nations in math and sciences? What are other countries doing in the classroom that we are not? The final question and concern is how did the US Government allow so many companies to outsource to other countries when it has resulted in them taking jobs and technology away from its citizens? With jobs at a premium in our country today what are we doing to fix it?

Don’t hit the Panic button yet!

Recommendations: As Friedman states technology, population, and a “never rest” mentality are widening the gap between the US and these countries. However, he doesn’t address the positives of technology reaching these countries. Yes, we may be falling behind but it has also given us the ability to communicate and exchange information across distances and has enabled more individuals to participate in the human growth of knowledge regardless of their location. People can now share information instantaneously when it took much longer before. It has made the world smaller and more accessible for so many individuals. Students can now take virtual tours of places in other countries that we only were able to see as a 2D picture in a book. As communication barriers have now broken through the World Wide Web, we now have the ability not only to share medical breakthroughs, but to have friendships as well. As the Internet age is in its infancy stage there will be competition to see what countries will be at the top but the winner in the end will be the human race for all the advancements we will achieve because of the internet.