State superintendent , Stan Heffner, shared his thoughts regarding how schools can and should include 21st century skills into the classroom. It was encouraging to hear his perspective regarding the use of cells phones in the classroom. He stated that that 78% of Ohio's high school students have access to a smart phone and he expects that number to rise in the near future. Many schools prohibit cell phone use during the school day. Policies, pedagogy, and assessment all need to evolve to meet the needs of the next generation of learners.
Karl Fisch and Ewan McIntosh both shared amazing presentations. Fisch shared his perspective on the power of social media and the impact it had on his viral Did You Know video. He discussed the collective power and knowledge of a group or network of individuals and how students need to build their own personal learning network to problem solve for the future. Speaking of problem solving, Ewan McIntosh shared what he had discovered while working with schools around the world. Anyone can solve a problem; the world needs problem finders. McIntosh stated that,
"We need young people to go into the world to find problems that really need solving and have the capacity to solve them."Students can work through and solve pseudo problems created by their teachers but is this preparing them for life or school? We can assess more, end of course exams, graduation tests, achievement tests, practice tests, and more practice tests but is this preparing kids for life or for school? As states get on board with the common core, will this move prepare kids for life or for school?
My big take away - Keep it real. Get your kids involved in finding problems that really need solving. Have high standards without standardization.
Are you preparing your kids for life or for school?
Ewan McIntosh's London TEDx talk includes similar information as his keynote address. I highly encourage you to view and share it.
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