21st Century Skills

In a previous posting I presented the notion of multiple pathways as one important aspect of educational reform. While examining this model in more detail, I’ve been impressed with many of the ideas presented by two organizations: The Partnership for 21st Century Skills and Jobs for the Future. Both organizations, through their web sites, help clarify the knowledge and skill sets that our students will need to succeed in the work place.  In light of the current world-wide financial crisis, the need to prepare students for the demands of a technology driven economy takes on even greater urgency.

The 21st century skills as defined by these groups build upon core academics to include learning and thinking skills, creativity, information and communications technology (ICT) literacy skills and life skills.  The challenges associated with providing this type of educational experience are enormous. From my perspective, successful High School reform will require a major shift in how we think of school. Larry Rosenstock, CEO of High Tech High in San Diego,CA speaks of the need for schools to mirror what goes on in the adult world of work.  To accomplish this, he stresses that the walls of a school have to "become more permeable”. This mens that connections with civic and business partners have to be seen as an integral part of the school culture. Real educational reform means that the work students engage in has to relate to the world outside the confines of tradional school campuses.

As a corporation with deep connections to education, Autodesk offers a broad array of software applications that play a key role in enabling students to engage in real-world projects that, in turn, offer opportunities to develop 21st century skills.  It would be extremely valuable for educators to share student projects involving programs such as the Animation Academy and the Autodesk Design Academy.  How are your projects structured? What are your criteria for measuring student learning? How does your curriculum and teaching strategies enable students to develop 21st century skills?