Challenging UConn Students
with 21rst Century Skills
Sally Reis
Interim Vice
Provost for
Academic
Affairs
Teaching Fellow
www.gifted.uconn.edu/semr
High above
the hushed
crowd, Rex
tried to
remain
focused. Still,
he couldn’t
shake one
nagging
thought: He
was an old
dog and this
was a new
trick.
78
"This is Senior English. From now on your books won't be popping up."
Engagement
• How do you define
engagement?
• Phil Schlecty asserts that
students who are engaged
exhibit three
characteristics:
– They are attracted to
their work
– They persist in their
work despite challenges
and obstacles, and
– They enjoy
accomplishing their
work
Twenty-First Century Skills
• UConn students must be able to effectively
use 21st century skills within the context of
rigorous academic content.
• What students learn, as well and how they
learn, when they learn, and how often they
have to learn new content is changing daily!
Tony Wagner in his book, The Global
Achievement Gap: defines 21rst
Century Skills
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Collaboration across Networks and Leading by
Influence
• Agility and Adaptability
• Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
• Effective Oral and Written Communication
• Accessing and Analyzing Information
• Curiosity and Imagination
In which direction are we moving in American Education?
… THIS WEEK
WE TOOK A
TEST TO SEE
IF WE’RE
READY FOR
THE TEST
THAT TESTS
OUR TEST
SKILLS…
… Wait until
KINDERGARTEN
Digital Age Literacy
• Basic, Scientific, and
Technological Literacies
• Visual and Information Literacy
• Cultural Literacy and Global
Awareness
Inventive Thinking and
Intellectual Capital
• Curiosity, Creativity and Risktaking
• Higher Order Thinking and
Reasoning
Interactive Communication—Social
and Personal Skills
• Personal and Social Responsibility
• Interactive Communication
• Teaming and Collaboration
Quality, State-of-the-Art Results
• Prioritizing, Planning, and
Managing for Results
• Effective Use of Real World
Tools
• High Quality Results with Real
World Applications
• Dr. Michael Wesch, a member of the Advisory
Board for 21st Century Schools, made a global
impact on August 2, 2008 when his presentation
at the American Library of Congress (on June 28),
An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube, was
featured on YouTube.
• In this presentation Dr. Wesch opens our eyes to
the phenomenon of new social communities and
to the classroom use of many recently developed.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vy
R9o&feature=relmfu
• Twenty-first century curriculum has certain critical
attributes. It is interdisciplinary, project-based, and
research-driven. It is connected to the community –
local, state, national and global. Some students
collaborate with people around the world in various
projects. The curriculum incorporates higher order
thinking skills, technology and multimedia, the
multiple literacies of the 21st century, and authentic
assessments. Service learning is an important
component.
• The classroom is expanded to include the
greater community. Students are selfdirected, and work both independently and
interdependently. The curriculum and
instruction are designed to challenge all
students, and provides for differentiation.
• The curriculum is not textbook-driven or
fragmented, but is based on learning
objectives.
• Learning is thematic, project-based and
integrated. Skills and content are not taught
as an end in themselves, but students learn
them through their research and application
in small and more involved
projects. Textbooks are just one of many
resources.
• Knowledge is not considered memorization,
but is constructed through research and
application, and connected to previous
knowledge, personal experience, interests,
talents and passions. The skills and content
become relevant and needed as students
require this information to complete their
projects. The content and basic skills are
applied within the context of the curriculum,
and are not ends in themselves.
• Assessment moves from
regurgitation of memorized facts and
disconnected processes to
demonstration of understanding
through application in a variety of
contexts. Self-assessment is critical.
Our students need to become media
literate and learn to understand how
to function in an online collaborative,
research-based environment –
researching, analyzing, synthesizing,
critiquing, evaluating and creating new
knowledge.
21rst Century Skills
•
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Creativity and innovation
Communication
Information Literacy
Local and global citizenship
Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
Collaboration
Digital literacy
Life and career connections
Learning to learn/ metacognition
Personal and social responsibility
“What’s the opposite of “Eureka!’?”