Eclectic Technology

Jackie Gerstein shares nine questions that you might consider asking yourself as you design new units. Two are listed below. The infographic she designed, with nine questions is in the image above, and you can access a list of the nine questions as well as the infographic in her post.

* Will the learners get the chance to share their work with other learners with a more global audience?

* Will the learners find the learning activities engaging? interesting? relevant? useful?

Gerstein's questions help you focus on the learner.They may help you transform lessons in ways you had not envisioned.

This report is based on a survey done by Gallup for Microsoft Learning and the Pearson Foundation. There are many findings of interest in this report. Three are below (quoted from the report).

* The majority of respondents (59%) reported that they agree or strongly agree that they developed most of the skills they use in their current job outside of school. Only 15% disagree or strongly disagree, indicating they felt that they developed these skills in school.

* Developing 21st century skills in the last year of school is positively correlated with higher perceived work quality later in life. In fact, those who have high 21st century skill development are twice as likely to have higher work quality compared to those who had low 21st century skill development.

* Across the 21st century skills included in this study, real world problem-solving is the significant driver of higher work quality; however, less than two-thirds (63%) of respondents reported developing this skill often in the last year of school and that number drops to less than half (39%) for high school graduates

Is your school providing students with these skills? The survey also noted that 59% of participants reported learning these skills outside the classroom. To go directly to the report: http://www.gallup.com/strategicconsulting/162821/21st-century-skills-workplace.aspx.