From Students to Learners:
New Learning Environments
for 21st Century Skills
Bob Pearlman
bobpearlman@mindspring.com
http://www.bobpearlman.org
21st Century Learning Summit
Rosemont, IL
October 13, 2010
PowerPoint Slides and Resources at
http://www.bobpearlman.org/21learningsummit.htm
So what does 21st Century
Learning Look Like?
And how do you get there?
21st
Pedagogy
How kids
New
Century
and
work
Learning
Skills
practice
in school
Environments
Four Imperatives for 21st Century
Learning
• Compete Globally
• Kids are different and learn
differently
• Kids are bored, not engaged
• The Creativity Crisis
Compete Globally – Who?
• It’s not just about us -- the U.S.A. or
Canada
• It’s about our students
• It’s about my daughter or son!
Kids are bored, not engaged
• Creativity – Producing something original and useful
• Kim found creativity scores had been steadily rising, just like IQ scores,
until 1990. Since then, creativity scores have consistently inched
downward.
• "What’s common about successful programs is they alternate maximum
divergent thinking with bouts of intense convergent thinking, through
several stages," the authors write, and cite schools like the new National
Inventors Hall of Fame Middle School in Akron, Ohio: "With as much as
three fourths of each day spent in project-based learning, principal
Buckner and her team actually work through required curricula, carefully
figuring out how kids can learn it through the steps of Treffinger’s Creative
Problem-Solving method and other creativity pedagogies. “The creative
problem-solving program has the highest success in increasing children’s
creativity,” observed William & Mary’s Kim."
Assessment of 21st Century Skills
Partnership for 21st Century Skills
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org
21st Century Skills Defined
Learning & Innovation
• Creativity and innovation
• Critical thinking and problemsolving
• Communication and collaboration
•
•
•
•
•
Life & Career
Flexibility and adaptability
Initiative and self-direction
Social and cross-cultural skills
Productivity and accountability
Leadership and responsibility
Information & Technology
• Information literacy
• Media literacy
• ICT literacy
Partnership for 21st Century Skills
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org
The three “R”s and the four “C”s
We must fuse the three Rs with
the four Cs.
The four Cs
• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Creativity and innovation
As the three Rs serve as an umbrella for other
subjects, the four Cs do for other skills.
New Technology High School
Learning Outcomes
Sacramento 10 Learning Outcomes
1. Content proficient
2. Able to write proficiently
Napa 8 Learning Outcomes
3. Orally proficient
• Technology literacy
4. Able to think critically
• Collaboration
5. Technologically proficient
• Critical thinking
6. Able to collaborate
• Oral communication
7. Prepared for a career
8. Solid citizens with ethical behavior
9. Able to analyze and deal with data
10. Possessing a solid work ethic
• Written communication
• Career preparation
• Citizenship and ethics
• Curricular literacy
(Content standards)
What learning curricula,
activities, and
experiences foster 21st
Century Learning?
And what does schooling
look like?
Manor New Technology High School, Manor, TX
Watch video and list key elements
of this teaching and learning
practice.
1. __________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________
World GeoLit Integrated class
at Manor New Technology High
School, Manor, TX
(Photo by Les Simpson)
5. __________________________________________________
6. __________________________________________________
7. __________________________________________________
Manor New Tech 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-klc2KijMG8
At the core is a student-centered,
project- and problem-based
teaching strategy that is tied to
both content standards and
schoolwide learning outcomes.
Project- and Problem-Based Learning
Keys to 21st Century Learning
NTHS teachers start each unit by throwing students into a realistic or
real-world project that both engages interest and generates a list of
things the students need to know. Projects are designed to tackle
complex problems, requiring critical thinking. New Tech’s strategy is
simple:
• To learn collaboration, work in teams.
• To learn critical thinking, take on complex problems.
• To learn oral communication, present.
• To learn written communication, write.
• To learn technology, use technology.
• To develop citizenship, take on civic and global issues.
• To learn about careers, do internships.
• To learn content, research, and do all of the above.
Each unit begins when students are presented
with a complex, standards-based problem.
Students form a team, develop a
work contract, and build a work plan.
Students get to work!
Students are provided an online briefcase
specific to the project with information,
resources, links, and assessment criteria
that help guide them.
Students need to know.
Student questions and “need to knows” drive
classroom lectures and activities. Sometimes for
the whole class, sometimes for just one student.
Students experiment and apply learning.
Students test their ideas and experiment
to find solutions and breakthroughs while
receiving ongoing feedback from
instructors.
Students get back to work!
Students work and collaborate in a
business-like environment, where they
know their deliverables and have the
technology tools to do their jobs.
Students prepare to present.
Students work on building presentations
to represent their work and defend
their solutions.
Students present their solutions!
Students present ideas through debates, skits, panels,
presentations where their work is evaluated by peers,
teachers, parents, and community.
The New Language
of School Design
“Classrooms are out!
No more classrooms!
Don’t build them!”
—Roger Schank,
Institute for Learning Sciences
Manor New Tech 2
Columbus Signature Academy, Columbus, IN
Figure 2: Learning studio for integrated interdisciplinary class at
Columbus Signature Academy, Columbus, IN
CSA
Columbus Signature
Academy
Primary student work area Learning studio
Presentation space
Presentation room
Large group space
Extended learning spaces
Multi-purpose room
Breakout area
Project conference room
Specialty labs
Graphic media lab
Science lab
Furniture
Rolling tables and chairs
Flip-up tables
New Tech High @ Coppell, Coppell, TX
Figure 4. Student project teams at work in double-sized classroom at
New Tech High @ Coppell, Coppell, TX. Photo by Kate Jenkins
Extended Learning Spaces
Student collaborative project teams working
in the digital media library, in the corridor,
and a project planning room, some of the
many extended learning spaces at New Tech
High, Coppell, Coppell, TX. Photos by SHW
Group, Plano, TX, and Kate Jenkins
New Tech High,
@ Coppell
Primary student work area Dual subject matter learning
environment
Presentation space
Large multi-group collaboration
zones
Large group space
Large multi-group collaboration
zones
Extended learning spaces Corridor alcoves
Project planning rooms
Media library
Outdoor benches
Specialty labs
Science lab
Furniture
Mix and match tables, office
chairs, lounge chairs, and sofas
in extended learning spaces
The Met, Providence, RI
Figure 7: Students in advisory room at the Met, Providence, RI
At the Met, the curriculum is
Learning Through Interests or
Internships (LTIs). To the Met,
LTI sites are part of its
facilities. And the school site is
designed to support students
working on their LTIs.
Figure 8: Floor plan of Met East, Providence, RI, showing
advisory rooms, project labs, and commons area
The Met
Primary student work area
Presentation space
Advisory–project room
Commons
Large group space
Extended learning spaces
Commons
Conference rooms
Meeting rooms
Commons
Specialty labs
Furniture
Fabrication
Soft, cushioned seats, contour
chairs, flexible tables
High Tech High, San Diego, CA
Figure 9: Cluster area studio surrounded by four flexible
classrooms at High Tech High, San Diego, CA
HTH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yie4q8LscBs
High Tech High
Primary student work area
Presentation space
Large group space
Extended learning spaces
Specialty labs
Furniture
Clustered classroom
Common studio
Commons
Commons
Small and large conference rooms
Common studios
Commons
Biotech, engineering
Art, music
Multimedia, digital arts
Benches in extended learning
spaces
New Line Learning Academy, Maidstone, Kent, England
Figure 10: Learning Plaza prototype at New Line Learning Academy,
Maidstone, Kent, England, shows Learning Plaza divided in multiple
ways for large groups, small groups, and individual learning
NLL
Figure 11: Ground Floor, Learning Plaza prototype at New Line
Learning Academy, Maidstone, Kent, England
Figure 12: Mezzanine, Learning Plaza prototype at New Line
Learning Academy, Maidstone, Kent, England
New Line Learning
Academy
Primary student work area Learning Plaza
Presentation space
Learning Plaza
Large group space
Extended learning spaces
Specialty labs
Furniture
Learning Plaza
Learning Plaza watering
holes and caves
Art
Technology
Science
Modular tables and mobile
lecture-style amphitheater
seating
Columbus
Signature
Academy
New Tech High @
Coppell
The Met
High Tech High
New Line
Learning
Academy
Primary
student work
area
Learning studio
Dual subject matter
learning environment
Advisory/
project room
Clustered classroom
Common studio
Learning
Plaza
Presentation
space
Presentation room
Large multi-group
collaboration zones
Commons
Commons
Learning
Plaza
Large group
space
Multi-purpose room
Large multi-group
collaboration zones
Commons
Commons
Learning
Plaza
Extended
learning spaces
Breakout area
Project conference
room
Corridor alcoves
Project planning rooms
Media library
Outdoor benches
Conference rooms,
Meeting rooms
Commons
Small and large
conference rooms
Common studios
Commons
Learning
Plaza
watering
holes and
caves
Specialty labs
Graphic media lab,
Science
Science
Fabrication
Biotech,
Engineering,
Art, Music,
Multimedia, Digital
Arts
Art
Technology
Science
Furniture
Rolling tables and
chairs; flip-up tables
Mix and match tables;
office chairs;
lounge chairs and sofas in
extended learning spaces
Soft, cushioned
seats, contour chairs,
flexible tables
Benches in
Extended learning
spaces
Modular
tables and
mobile
lecture-style
amphitheater
seating
Some Cautionary Tales
It’s about a lot more than design and technology.
• UK open learning environments (1970s)
• Massachusetts: new high schools (mid-1990s)
• NW England: new learning centres
Are teachers ready to teach in the new
learning environments?
Putting It All Together
•
•
•
•
PBL curriculum and pedagogy
Assessment for learning
Technology
Learning spaces and environment
• Professional development
Four Imperatives for 21st Century
Learning
• Compete Globally
• Kids are different and learn
differently
• Kids are bored, not engaged
• The Creativity Crisis
Contact Information
Bob Pearlman
21st Century School and District Consultant
bobpearlman@mindspring.com
www.bobpearlman.org
(520) 881-9965
PowerPoint Slides and Resources at
http://www.bobpearlman.org/21learningsummit.htm