From Students to Learners: New Learning Environments for 21st Century Skills

1. From Students to Learners: New Learning Environments for 21st Century Skills Bob Pearlman bobpearlman@mindspring.comhttp://www.bobpearlman.org 21st Century Learning Summit Rosemont, IL October 13, 2010 PowerPoint Slides and Resources at http://www.bobpearlman.org/21learningsummit.htm

2. So what does 21st Century Learning Look Like?And how do you get there? How kids work in school 21st Century Skills Pedagogy and practice New Learning Environments

3. Four Imperatives for 21st Century Learning • Compete Globally • Kids are different and learn differently • Kids are bored, not engaged • The Creativity Crisis

4. Compete Globally – Who? • It’s not just about us -- the U.S.A. or Canada • It’s about our students • It’s about my daughter or son!

6. Kids are bored, not engaged

7. Creativity – Producing something original and useful • Kim found creativity scores had been steadily rising, just like IQ scores, until 1990. Since then, creativity scores have consistently inched downward. • "What’s common about successful programs is they alternate maximum divergent thinking with bouts of intense convergent thinking, through several stages," the authors write, and cite schools like the new National Inventors Hall of Fame Middle School in Akron, Ohio: "With as much as three fourths of each day spent in project-based learning, principal Buckner and her team actually work through required curricula, carefully figuring out how kids can learn it through the steps of Treffinger’s Creative Problem-Solving method and other creativity pedagogies. “The creative problem-solving program has the highest success in increasing children’s creativity,” observed William & Mary’s Kim."

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

9. 21st Century Skills Defined • Life & Career • Flexibility and adaptability • Initiative and self-direction • Social and cross-cultural skills • Productivity and accountability • Leadership and responsibility • Learning & Innovation • Creativity and innovation • Critical thinking and problem-solving • Communication and collaboration • Information & Technology • Information literacy • Media literacy • ICT literacy Partnership for 21st Century Skills http://www.21stcenturyskills.org

10. The three “R”s and the four “C”s We must fuse the three Rs with the four Cs. • The four Cs • Critical thinking and problem solving • Communication • Collaboration • Creativity and innovation As the three Rs serve as an umbrella for other subjects, the four Cs do for other skills.

11. New Technology High School Learning Outcomes Sacramento 10 Learning Outcomes Content proficient Able to write proficiently Orally proficient Able to think critically Technologically proficient Able to collaborate Prepared for a career Solid citizens with ethical behavior Able to analyze and deal with data Possessing a solid work ethic • Napa 8 Learning Outcomes • Technology literacy • Collaboration • Critical thinking • Oral communication • Written communication • Career preparation • Citizenship and ethics • Curricular literacy • (Content standards)

12. What learning curricula, activities, and experiences foster 21st Century Learning? And what does schooling look like?

13. Manor New Technology High School, Manor, TX Watch video and list key elements of this teaching and learning practice. 1. __________________________________________________ 2. __________________________________________________ 3. __________________________________________________ 4. __________________________________________________ 5. __________________________________________________ 6. __________________________________________________ 7. __________________________________________________ World GeoLit Integrated class at Manor New Technology High School, Manor, TX (Photo by Les Simpson)

14. Manor New Tech 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-klc2KijMG8

15. At the core is a student-centered, project- and problem-based teaching strategy that is tied to both content standards and schoolwide learning outcomes.

16. Project- and Problem-Based LearningKeys to 21st Century Learning • To learn collaboration, work in teams. • To learn critical thinking, take on complex problems. • To learn oral communication, present. • To learn written communication, write. • To learn technology, use technology. • To develop citizenship, take on civic and global issues. • To learn about careers, do internships. • To learn content, research, and do all of the above. NTHS teachers start each unit by throwing students into a realistic or real-world project that both engages interest and generates a list of things the students need to know. Projects are designed to tackle complex problems, requiring critical thinking. New Tech’s strategy is simple:

17. Each unit begins when students are presented with a complex, standards-based problem. Students form a team, develop a work contract, and build a work plan.

18. Students get to work! Students are provided an online briefcase specific to the project with information, resources, links, and assessment criteria that help guide them.

19. Students need to know. Student questions and “need to knows” drive classroom lectures and activities. Sometimes for the whole class, sometimes for just one student.

20. Students experiment and apply learning. Students test their ideas and experiment to find solutions and breakthroughs while receiving ongoing feedback from instructors.

21. Students get back to work! Students work and collaborate in a business-like environment, where they know their deliverables and have the technology tools to do their jobs.

22. Students prepare to present. Students work on building presentations to represent their work and defend their solutions.

23. Students present their solutions! Students present ideas through debates, skits, panels, presentations where their work is evaluated by peers, teachers, parents, and community.

24. The New Language of School Design “Classrooms are out! No more classrooms! Don’t build them!” —Roger Schank, Institute for Learning Sciences

25. Manor New Tech 2

27. Columbus Signature Academy, Columbus, IN Figure 2: Learning studio for integrated interdisciplinary class at Columbus Signature Academy, Columbus, IN

28. CSA

32. New Tech High @ Coppell, Coppell, TX Figure 4. Student project teams at work in double-sized classroom at New Tech High @ Coppell, Coppell, TX. Photo by Kate Jenkins

33. Extended Learning Spaces

34. Student collaborative project teams working in the digital media library, in the corridor, and a project planning room, some of the many extended learning spaces at New Tech High, Coppell, Coppell, TX. Photos by SHW Group, Plano, TX, and Kate Jenkins

37. The Met, Providence, RI Figure 7: Students in advisory room at the Met, Providence, RI

38. At the Met, the curriculum is Learning Through Interests or Internships (LTIs). To the Met, LTI sites are part of its facilities. And the school site is designed to support students working on their LTIs.

39. Figure 8: Floor plan of Met East, Providence, RI, showing advisory rooms, project labs, and commons area

41. High Tech High, San Diego, CA Figure 9: Cluster area studio surrounded by four flexible classrooms at High Tech High, San Diego, CA

42. HTH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yie4q8LscBs

46. New Line Learning Academy, Maidstone, Kent, England Figure 10: Learning Plaza prototype at New Line Learning Academy, Maidstone, Kent, England, shows Learning Plaza divided in multiple ways for large groups, small groups, and individual learning

47. NLL

50. Figure 11: Ground Floor, Learning Plaza prototype at New Line Learning Academy, Maidstone, Kent, England