Have you heard the term 21st Century learning? Whether you have or not take a moment to think how the teaching and learning experience has changed over the years.
It's hard to define 21st Century learning with a single definition. There are many opinions, ideas, and suggestions when exploring this term. While there's much to be said about this new age of learning, there are three popular skills that always find their way into the classroom: collaboration, communication, and creativity (3 Cs). To learn more about these skills and how they play a role in modern education and my professional career, I've created a video using Adobe Spark (click here to view it or watch it below). My biggest challenge? Well...producing it! Lets just say I now know how to use Camtasia and Adobe Spark. Thank goodness for their help videos!
Collaboration, or working in teams to accomplish a task, is frequently used in my classroom. Working in groups improves communication, responsibility, and content retention. Effective communication, as it pertains to both students and educators, is critical. Open and honest communication builds rapport, motivation, and cultural awareness. Creativity, quoted by Aran Lavasseur, "is an exploration of the possible. It is a journey into the unknown that requires embracing uncertainty and failure. In times of rapid change, exploring the possible becomes an essential skill." Students build stronger connections to material when they're given the chance to explore and be creative. Not mentioned is a forth important skill, critical thinking. When exploring the 3 Cs I realized all three promote critical thinking.
With an ever-changing world and new depths of technology, students submerged in these 3 Cs are more prepared to master content transfer.
References:
Levasseur, A. Education is a Time Machine [Web Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.nmc.org/blog/education-time-machine/ .
Machine Learning [Brain and computer]. (n.d.). Retrieved June 5, 2019, from https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=289092&picture=machine-learning.