Skills K-12 students need
to be literate in the 21st century
Collaboration
Overview
A hallmark trait of 21st century living is an increased reliance on collaborative
teams. Many of these efforts are cross divisional and multicultural. Students
need the skills to prepare themselves for this new landscape.
Global Competence
The National Education Association (NEA) believes global competence is a 21st century imperative. (http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/PB28_GlobalCompetence.pdf) Cultural understanding and awareness of global events are increasingly more important. Americans can no longer ignore other countries. The threat of global terrorism grabs our attention and forces us to realize we are integrated into a global economy and culture like at no other time in history.
Team collaboration
The widespread adoption of the internet made collaborating and communicating with international peers viable. In many professional settings, this is the norm. Our schools need to catch up. Why are students learning Spanish by repeating vocabulary words sitting in their classroom? These students could be interacting with Mexican students in a online exchange. Schools could create immersive, year long partnership with international sister schools. These exchanges could help students learn about language and culture from their peers as part of a collaborative, technology enriched partnership - and students wouldn't be required to travel to reap these benefits.
Remote Mentoring & Partnering
Students could be paired with mentors in other countries to create an educational peer to peer academic mentoring or outreach network. US teachers could mentor students from other countries and US students could be paired with international teachers. Teachers could partner with other international teachers in a international mentor program. The richness of these types of educational exchanges could be enhanced by existing exchanges and partnerships (such as AFS Intercultural Programs). When the children get into high school, their early online exchanges may make study abroad opportunities a little less scary.
Related Links
Youth Peace Literacy - Free educational resources for young people worldwide to understand and alleviate the fundamental source of human conflict - psychological conditioning.
ThinkQuest - An international competition where student teams engage in collaborative, project-based learning to create educational websites.
Global Kids - Global Kids works with urban youth, of diverse background, to become global citizens, community leaders, and participate in the shape of public policy and international relations.