21st century skills-- Reflection on educator's blogs

The blog post that I read was about the changes in education and how it is rapidly changing. 

The link to the blog that I reflected on is:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/21st-century-schools-or-learning-george-couros

George speaks about how schools are purchasing devices without communicating about what

learning should be happening in the classroom.  He questions if some schools actually have 21^st century learning just because they have 21^st century technology.  This principal says that we need to discuss the learning first and then choose the appropriate device.

I agree with this principal.  I have heard of many instances where this has happened.  Schools purchase 21^st century devices without communicating about how they will be used to enhance learning.  I agree that these discussions have to occur before devices are purchased.  Teachers need to have conversations about the learning and then decide what 21^st century device would enhance the learning that is taking place.

I think that in order to have 21st century learning, educators can't just say that they are using the tools (i.e., textbooks on ipads).  They have to use the tools in order to enhance learning.  Kids are not learning the same way that they did before.

In another blog:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/collaborative-assessment-digital-classroom-social-media-tools

This Director of Technology and Educator from Boston speaks about collaboration.  I agree with Andrew, that collaboration is an important component of education today.  As he stated, there are very few work environments where there is not some sort of collaboration happening.  We need to embrace this style of learning in the 21st century and find 21st century tools to aid us in making this happen (not purchase the tools and then figure out later how we are going to use them). 
Andrew goes on to suggest many 21st century tools that would allow for collaboration to occur in the classroom.  In today's world, it is not just about collaborating with the students in your class, or the students in your school, or even the students in your city.  Students can connect and collaborate with others around the world with the click of one button.  I believe that an audience that students have can affect the work that they produce.  It means more to them when their work is not just for "the teacher's eyes".  When students can share their work with a vast audience and get immediate feedback, there is great learning taking place in both directions.  Andrew also outlines on his blog that you need to model collaboration, steps toward collaborative assessment and providing safe outlets for students to demonstrate what they have learned.

Finally, I agreed with Andrew when he spoke about the collaborative learning environments in our schools. He said that adding the technology allowed for varied opportunities for presentation and demonstration, as well this is the kind of environment our students will be working in some day.  We do owe it to our students to prepare them for the world and provide them with these opportunities to collaborate.