Blog Response – “The Nuts & Bolts of 21st Century Teaching”

I found this blog post to be bursting with important ideas.  The old fashioned role of teacher as “information disseminator” must be replaced with the newer function of “facilitator of learning.” As referenced in Shelley Wright’s post, we need to provide our students with the “environment,” opportunity, and structure allowing them to become “creators” of knowledge and to learn the skills they need to navigate within their new world. 

The student’s role is also changing.  No longer should they be passive receivers of knowledge, but rather “discoverers of knowledge.”  Within the discussed project-based activities, students are provided the opportunities/framework they need and then they are encouraged to put in the leg-work needed to create a solution or end of unit (and often collaborative) project.  Such assignments provide opportunities for research, information categorizing and synthesis, and the building of important skills such as collaboration and problem-solving.  The students then become the “creators of their learning” by completing these inquiry-based projects together with their classmates.  By sharing the projects they ultimately become the teachers as well. 

This change in the dynamics of the classroom, models the shift in our society.  The way we are learning and using that knowledge has changed.  We are no longer passive receivers needing to go to a few select experts to obtain necessary information.  Now, with the incorporation of social media, and immediate information access, we can all be active participants in knowledge consumption application of that knowledge and “experts” in our own right with sharing and teaching that information.  We have truly become a society of “co-learners” as mentioned in the post, or as put another way, “global collaborators.”

As teachers, we need to help our students learn the strategies and skill sets they will need to navigate in this new world.  As Shelley referenced in her post, we have to show our students how but then let them do the rest for themselves.  In order for the students to become life-long, self-motivated learners, they need to feel confident and comfortable with applying their skills of problem-solving, creative, and critical-thinking, research, communication, collaboration, technology using skills.  They need to know how to be successful “creators” and “designers."  These skills discussed will carry them through their school as well as professional careers.  Helping students in this way allows them to take ownership and responsibility for their own learning.  It is this way that teachers can truly fulfill their new role of “facilitators of learning.”  It may not always be easy, and reflection, revision, and re-tooling is a vital part of the process, but the result can be magical.