Journal # 4

Journal #4 “Create, Collaborate, Communicate: Empowering Students with 21st Century Skills by Chris Riedel

Chris Riedel, "Create, Collaborate, Communicate: Empowering Students With 21st Century Skills," T.H.E. Journal, 1/27/2009, http://www.thejournal.com/articles/23872

This article discusses the importance of using and teaching technology in the classroom. The reason we need to be teaching our students technology is to get the ready for the future. When asking the top 50 companies what they are looking for in recruits, the top three things were: creative problem solving, critical and analytical skills, and information gathering and evaluation. The article suggests 16 things educators can do to prepare their students for the future. The 16 things are: find a technology mentor, create a social network, develop problem-solving skills, start collaborating, use project-based learning, develop information processing skills, give kids a global voice, discover RSS, improve critical thinking skills, teach kids to be self-directed, create, collaborate, and communicate, discover social bookmarking, interactive video conferencing, integrate web 2.0 into curriculum, promote 1:1 computing, and staff development.

1. Which of the suggestions given am I already using?
I enjoy using project-based learning in the classroom. The article suggests this is important because it teaches a wide range of skill. I like project-based learning because I feel the students get much more engaged in the work they are doing. The seem to also get much more out of the learning experience. I did a project on a Spanish speaking country in class, and the presentations that were given were amazing. I feel the students learned a lot about the countries they did their projects on.
2. Which of the suggestions do I think would be most helpful to students?
I think two of them would help with real-world as well as prepare them for college: start collaborating and improve critical thinking skills. All of the suggestions given are very important and useful, but I personally used collaborating and critical thinking in college, and now in my career. The article suggests using google docs for collaborating, and this tool is very helpful to any kind of group project.