I believe Alan November has a good start here. The four things he has named have significant validity in today's society, but in my opinion they are not the only important skills/awareness we should instill in our students.
Global empathy as Mr. November said is important for future employment. An understanding of differences and other cultures will take students far. They definitely can not learn all languages in the world, but a few would help also.
Social and ethical responsibility on the web is very important if we wish for our young people to grow up to be well adjusted adults. I agree schools are taking the easy way out by blocking websites, most homes have Internet access and the students are aware.
The permanence of what is posted online is eye opening. It is difficult for the school to compete with home in this respect. I know of parents who post stunts that their kids are doing to you tube. I don't see the sense in it, but how can we beat that?
Critical thinking is a must. Students at my school are being introduced to relevant sites on the web. they know wiki can be changed by others, so don't go there.
In addition to these four things, I think students need to know the art of collaboration. Civic literacy is also important. Everyone can have their own opinion on which of the 21st Century Skills should be focused on the most, but everyone has their own perceptions.
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I agree there are many more 21st century skills that we need to include. One that is under discussion now relates to your point:
ReplyDelete"Critical thinking is a must. Students at my school are being introduced to relevant sites on the web. they know wiki can be changed by others, so don't go there. "
There is a change in the conception of authority as more and more information is created by groups of people, not an "expert". Can this be valuable information? Do we believe it because a group of people has agreed on the information? Is it sometimes more accurate than something done by one individual with a particular perspective or by an expert many years ago? How are students to learn to judge this new form of information and authority?