Partnership for 21st Century Skills

Before anything should be said, The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, or "P21", is an enormous website with an unbelievable amount of information at the fingertips of the viewer.  I looked through this site for well over an hour and felt like I barely scraped the surface all of the options and pages available to view.  I do find it interesting that the gap between what is being taught and what is actually needed to work in today's world is so big.  This site is dedicated, or acting as a "catalyst" as the mission statement says, in an attempt to fix this monster problem.  I find the "3 R's and the 4 C's" to be an interesting concept to look more into; the graph that accompanies this idea is also very accurate.  While New York state is not listed in the state initiatives section, there is so much to learn and read about it is truly a wonder why New York is not listed being a major city in this country (and world).

After looking through the main branches of the page, I found the "videos21", in the tools and resources section to be one of interest.  There are so many videos to view (I viewed some of the "most viewed" ones to get an idea of what to expect), relating to many different ideas.  I also found the FAQ page under the overview section to be a great place to start when trying to learn more about this program. 

It is hard to really disagree with anything on this website as everything included makes so much sense.  What is being taught in schools today is far from what is needed to be successful in this world.  Our curriculum's are often based on what was relevant many years ago...not what is relevant for the future (aka modern day students in the next 8-10 years).   It is also somewhat difficult to personally look at a way to implement this into a classroom without other teachers collaboration and the school backing you, financially and academically.

There is no way to say if P21 will really take off or fall by the way side.  It does pose some excellent ideas and concepts with the framework to support it.  Even though I am just one educator, I would love to see the great state of New York join in this program and find a way to implement some of the basic ideas.

Attached is the link to the Partnership for the 21st Century Skills
http://www.p21.org/index.php

New to this "wiki" thing...

The weeks assignment is to join a "wiki"....I am entirely unfamiliar with this form of internet technology.  After joining, I am excited to get going and see where it takes us and what exactly a wiki is.  I have had a few ideas about creating some kind of internet site for local golfers to setup matches and post scores, reviews of local courses extra...hopefully with all of the information I am learning in the class, I can put it to use and get this summer golf site up and running!

As I said, I am not familiar with wikis.  I have read a little about it in the textbook for the weekly reading, but until I actually am involved in it, I am unsure of what to expect.  The internet and other modern technologies are an exciting new venue to learn about and use. I very much look forward to it...

Ken

Week 2

Good afternoon everyone, this is the second installment of my blog and this post will be dealing with technology. The resources for the second week of Masters course @ Walden is one of interest to me.  I found all of the videos engaging, especially "Technology's Influence" and "Alvin Toffler's Wave Theory".  Very interesting listening to the theories and ideas about fed ex vs. the Maine education system.  It does bring up a great question, and this very question is one posed to the class from Mr. Kevin Jarret: is technology something that occurs due to another trigger, or is that trigger the reason for the technology occurring?

I am unsure of the answer, also as noted by the resources and Mr. Jarrett, this is the age old question of which came first, the chicken or the egg?  I am leaning towards technology occurring due to the environment around it as opposed to technology evolving regardless of the environment, it would have taken place.  Hall Davidson, an expert in the technology field, says that "war is a great thing for technology", I understand this statement as saying that any given technology that is developed during a time of war,  is developed strictly DUE TO the war taking place.  That technology would not have been founded without there being a trigger (the war, in this case) occurring.

This whole discussion is a good, philosophical question that could be debated back and forth, but in the end, regardless of how the technology is occurring...it is occurring.

Ken

First blog...

This is my first blog.  I'm sitting on my couch watching golf (what a surprise...) and doing some homework.
My legs are sore from Rebecca beating me up in the gym this morning for our weekly, Sunday "big legs day" workout.

-Ken