21st Century Skills Needed

The student’s in today’s economy are now competing in a global economy. Many US school are still teaching with the same old methods and the gap between knowledge and skills learned in schools and knowledge and skills needed to survive in a global economy are increasing. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is making a stand and trying to close this formidable gap by creating a partnership between education, business, community, and government leaders. This website offers links to articles on current events in educations and resources and tools to assist educators from all over in incorporating the 21st century skills into the classroom.

One tool that I really liked from this website was a compilation of videos of 21st century skills at work in a real-live classroom. The resource can be found on the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website or directly at the following link: https://thepartnershipfor21stcenturyskills238.eduvision.tv/default.aspx. Personal, I read about so many different ideas about how to improve my teaching, and many times I do not get the full comprehension from these ideas until I see them in action. I was surprised with how many classrooms on this web resource only had one computer within the room. My personal classroom has a SMARTboard and basically one computer for the class use, and I am doing a lot of the same things that teachers within the videos are doing.

Overall, I am glad that someone is standing up and addressing the need for a transfer in pedagogical methodology towards the 21st century skill-set. In an article by Zach Miners and Angela Pascopella titled, The New Literacies, they mention that textbooks have been used as a primary resource for the last 500 years and now all of a sudden everything is shifting towards technology (p. 28). I feel that the most valuable element from the Partnerships for 21st Century Skills is the idea of making the need for these skills public, and for creating a meeting ground where leaders can communicate and hopeful solve this epidemic in education. Personally, I feel that I am a contemporary educator and I am excited about the changes that hopefully lie within the future of education.

Resources.

Miners, Z., & Pascopella, A. (2007). The new literacies. District Administration, 43(10), 26–34.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

Blogging In a Music Classroom

As an elementary (K-5) music teacher, I think it would be a good idea to use my blog as a place to showcase my student’s work. I could use garage band on my macbook and create different podcasts that consist of the students performing. I would ideally like to be able to share video selections from the winter and spring concert, but unfortunately the copyright and child protection issues are too overwhelming.


I can clearly visualize the positive purpose that blogs can serve in a classroom where students have access to computers, but in my situation, my school has 650 students and one computer lab with only 25 working computers. Unfortunately, there are not any time slots available for the specialists in the computer lab. I could however, use my blog as a learning homework tool, where students can comment on class performances from their home computers. The blog would also be an effective way to convey links to educational websites dealing with music. I am open to any other suggestions on how to incorporate a blog into my classroom, given my limited computer access situation.

My First Blog (Music & Technology)

My name is Charles Lane and I am an elementary music teacher. I am currently pursuing a M.S. in Education Degree from Walden University. My Graduate program focuses on the integration of technology into an educational classroom. Technology is changing the world at a rapid pace, and this is drastically effecting the field of education. At one point in time, computers where considered on option, but now they are an integral part in every classroom. In my music classroom, I try to incorporate many technologies into my everyday teaching. One of my goals is to use this blog to network with other educational professionals on topics dealing with music and technology. My favorite part about technology is that within the technology field, because of the rapid speeds in which it evolves, everyone is truly a lifelong learning. Every day, it seems that I am learning something new and this excites me.