Technology Literacy is an Important 21st Century Learning Skill
According to a report from The Center for Public Education, next to critical thinking and problem solving, employers believe that students should be prepared to apply information technology in their future jobs. Tied for third place are teamwork and collaboration skills as well as creativity and innovation.
In other words, employers want creative thinkers who can work in groups and solve problems using technology.
If you’ve ever been in a computer lab, you know firsthand what the research says: our students are way beyond us when it comes to technology. Jerald writes in Defining a 21st Century Education that instead of teaching students how to operate the technology, we should focus on teaching how to employ technology in a responsible and effective manner to enhance learning.
Most of our students – 85 percent – use technology socially to communicate with their friends via text messages, e-mailing, or social networking. They’re not just using it to chat with their friends. Almost two-thirds of the active teen Internet users are creating content online in the form of blogs, personal Web pages, or video. These students are literate in the sense that they understand the mechanics of technology, but they’re not always literate about safety and responsibility issues. For them, often the technology medium eclipses any content message.
It’s our job as educators to reflect on how we’re preparing our students, these digital natives, not to point and click, but to make connections between these technological tools and our content areas. We need to encourage the critical thinking, collaboration, and innovation that employers are looking for on the digital platform where our students live.
Reference
Jerald, C. 2009. Defining a 21st Century Education. The Center for Public Education. http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lvIXIiN0JwE&b=5595853&content_id={5762DE8B-86E5-498E-9A90-60E7850085CE}¬oc=1
2 comments ↓
Guest
05.26.11 at 1:26 pm
You wrote 'employers want creative thinkers who can work in groups and solve problems using technology'. Do you have any research to back that up? My experience is that employers don't want creative thinkers. They want people they can tell what to do instead, rather than people who think. At least that seems to be true in my field, software development.
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