Girl Scout Thinking Day, Feb 2016 – each troop represents a country and shares food, activities, facts about it. We were New Zealand this year – covered Pavlova, geography, Kiwi birds, Maori words and a national flag referendum. Project-based learning – collaboration, creativity, multi-disciplinary…
Knowledge is no longer locked away in books and teachers’ heads, personalized learning is now possible due to technology and big data, a college degree is no guarantee of a good job or career, and many of the ‘soft’ skills needed to thrive in life are not a focus of school.
This site is for parents and students interested in finding out more about what modern learning can be, and then help their child(ren) take charge of their own learning experiences inside and outside of school.
(Above is a six minute video I created on this topic, and a written version is here).
In our Cognitive Computing age, technological innovations mean an ever-changing job market and often the obsolescence of even highly-specialized work.
Any parent with students currently in K-12, unable to attend one of the few schools that have already changed (something like a “21st Century Learning Exemplar School“), can’t wait for education reform to happen – it will be too late for their kids.
There are very few resources widely available that directly speak to students and parents on the issue and how to tackle it as a family or as an individual – most are aimed at influencing educators to create change, and don’t necessarily help students or parents decide what they should do right now, in school and outside of it.
I’d like this site to fill this gap. Feedback and contributions are VERY WELCOME!
Goal: curate resources and build a community to address this need, especially focused on parents who cannot afford private school or expensive extracurricular programs, but have a strong desire to use education as a pathway to a rewarding life for their children – as most of us do!
There is a wealth of quality content and resources available online now, and I want to curate the best options and map them against 21st Century skill building.
I’m aiming to break it down into these areas:
- The ‘problem’ aka information on what skills are needed (focusing on a few key POVs) vs. the focus on testing and improving what we’re doing now in schools rather than updating it
- Skills Assessment – take stock of what YOU and your CHILD decide is important and want to develop in terms of skills
- Schools and Teaching – info showcasing the various approaches schools are taking, questions to ask your school, teaching methods worth exploring (PBL, Flipped classrooms, Genius hour, 20% project)
- Ideas for action – what you might do at home, online, in the community, and at school.
Parents for 21st Century Skills 