A Challenge 1
Running Head: A Challenge to Act
A Challenge to Act
Dorie Glynn
Wilkes University
A Challenge 2
Abstract
During this course, Using Technology to Support Creativity, I learned to identify
and define globalization. What I didn’t know, was that I was already reacting to the
symptoms of globalization in my own classroom. I will use this knowledge to teach
other educators about meeting the needs of the 21st Century Learner and continuing to
prepare my students to be productive-creative members of the workforce and society.
A Challenge 3
A Challenge to Act
During this course I have learned about globalization, its definition and impact on
society today. What I didn’t know was I that I am deep in the heart of the globalization
issue. I am a bilingual teacher trained to teach LEP (Limited English Proficient) students
and especially Spanish speaking students. The majority of the students I teach are not
from the U.S. Their parents immigrated to the U.S. in search of jobs in a comparatively
thriving U.S. economy. These students are lacking the cultural capital necessary for
success in the larger culture of their host country including a lack of linguistic ability and
often socio-economic experiences. It is my job to meet the needs of the LEP learner.
Some of the strategies used in teaching LEP students are: using visuals, repeated
instruction, graphic organizers, and using real life examples (experiments, tangible
objects, videos from Discovery Education). These strategies previously known in
bilingual education have been implemented in the last 5 years in mainstream education
as well and regarded as good teaching. I intend to use these strategies to teach other
educators about meeting the needs of the 21st Century Learner and continue to prepare
my students to be productive-creative members of the workforce and society.
In Joel Spring’s article, Research on Globalization and Education, one of the
topics was Global Discourse: Lifelong Education. I was glad to see that there were
studies’ being conducted about preparing our student’s to be lifelong learners. I believe
that we need to keep learning in order to stay competitive in the workforce and keep up
with today’s world. What concerned me was the research that Spring (2008) found.
The report on the 2005 summit on U.S. high schools limited the
recommended core curriculum to 4 years of English (communication skills)
A Challenge 4
and 4 years of math, including data analysis and statistics. These were
considered the only essential subjects needed for preparation of students
for lifelong learning in the knowledge economy (Achieve, Inc., & National
Governors Association, 2005, p. 13).
Are English and Math the only essential subjects needed? What about Science
and Social Studies? I believe that the curriculum of today needs to change to meet the
needs of the 21st Century Learner. Not only do we need to continue teaching the core
subjects beyond Math and English generally found at the high school level, but we need
to include 21st century interdisciplinary themes into core subjects such as those
suggested by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills: global awareness, financial,
economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy, civic literacy, health literacy (2004). I
agree that including these themes into the core subjects can only bring up student’s
thinking to a higher level.
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has made a framework to include the Core
Subjects, the 21st Century Themes, such as Global Awareness, Learning and
Innovation Skills, Information, Media, and Technology Skills, Life and Career Skills.
These outcomes are “the skills, knowledge and expertise students should master to
succeed in work and life in the 21st century” (2004). I believe that schools need to
change. I have already introduced the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website to my
Principal when asked what would be my dream for our school.
A Challenge 5
An important aspect of the framework is the Learning and Innovation Skills.
These skills include: Creativity and Innovation Skills, Critical Thinking and Problem
Solving Skills, Communication and Collaboration Skills. These skills are essential to
students to elevate their value in the global economy.
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills describes Creativity and Innovation Skills
as demonstrating originality and inventiveness in work. They give several resources
that support developing these skills. One of the resources listed is a site on Bloom’s
Taxonomy. Bloom’s is already used in classrooms, although sometimes I think that it is
hard for new teachers to adapt to its way of questioning. Bloom’s taxonomy is an
excellent tool used to get students to think out of the box beyond the knowledge and
comprehension level.
During the last four years, my pedagogy has changed. It was then that I was
trained and then I trained my campus on LoTi (Levels of Technology Implementation).
This training helped me put Bloom’s taxonomy into practice. LoTi focuses on higher
level thinking (Bloom’s taxonomy), student engagement, authentic assessment, and
technology use. “LoTi focuses on bridging the achievement gap while engaging
students in authentic learning opportunities aligned to the state content standards”.
Given this knowledge, I am always searching the internet for resources and tools to use
in the classroom. I have been learning about web 2.0 tools and considering their
application in the classroom.
I plan to continue to use the LoTi framework to make my teaching more effective.
I also plan on referencing the 21st Century Skills framework and see how I might teach
A Challenge 6
those skills. I will incorporate technology to respond to the demands of globalization.
How could I not? The world has become flattened and technology is the means to go
across the flatness. With the convergence of the Berlin wall coming down, the day
Netscape went public, outsourcing, insourcing, off shoring, open-sourcing, supplychaining, informing, the steroids, all coming together during the year 2000, it brought us
ways individuals and companies can work on and share knowledge (Friedman, pp.2-3).
People are now able to communicate worldwide with the touch of a button. The jobs
that will be available to our students in the future will be much different than the jobs
available today. The change in jobs is due to the global economy. Students need the
skills to be able to collaborate, communicate, and share ideas with others to be
productive workers.
Web 2.0 tools available on the internet are giving people the ability to collaborate
globally. As the jobs change in our society, it will be necessary for people to respect,
act civilly, and collaborate with others (Gardner, p. 254). Wikis are one example that I
will continue to use and have my students become more proficient at it as they will learn
to eventually collaborate with each other. I will connect my students globally with other
classrooms using resources such as ePals.com and distance learning.
Should we use technology, just because it is the latest and greatest thing
available? No, we should not. According to Pink,
Mere survival today depends on being able to do something that overseas
knowledge workers can’t do cheaper, that powerful computers can’t do
faster, and that satisfies one of the nonmaterial, transcendent desires of
an abundant age. That is why high tech is no longer enough. We’ll need
A Challenge 7
to supplement our well-developed high-tech abilities with abilities that are
high concept and high touch.
Given the need to foster creativity and problem solving, I will use technology to
achieve these goals. With the LoTi framework and the Skills for the 21st century learner
in mind when planning out my lessons, my students will have the opportunity to create.
Some of the tools we might use include Photo Story and Moviemaker for digital
storytelling or making a Public Service Announcement, Kidspiration or Inspiration for
organizing graphically their thoughts and giving examples of their learning, ST Math-a
visual, non-linguistic program that promotes problem solving, and many of the various
web 2.0 tools available.
Because of this class, I am now able to articulate to my colleagues why 21 st
Century Skills, LoTi, and technology use is important in dealing with the challenges
posed by globalization. I hope that my school and district will take a closer look at the
Skills presented by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and evaluate how we might
incorporate those skills that we are not addressing at this time. I will train teachers on
the technologies available and continue to research tools available to support learners.
A Challenge 8
References
Gardner, Howard. (2004). How Education Changes: Considerations of History, Science,
and Values, in Globalization, Culture, and Education in the New Millennium.
University of California Press. Berkeley, California. 235-256
Moersch, C. (2009). LoTi Overview. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from LoTi Connection,
Inc. Web site: http://loticonnection.com/lotioverview.html
Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2004). Framework for 21st Century Learning.
Retrieved January 26, 2009, from
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2
54&Itemid=120.
Pink, D. H. (2006). A Whole New Mind. New York: Riverhead Books. (Original work
published 2005)
Spring, Joel. (2008). Research on Globalization and Education. Review of Educational
Research, 78(2), 330-363.