In 21st century education, learning is evolving at a rapid pace. Whether it's in the classroom, library, or a makerspace, students need unique experiences to ensure readiness. At the same time, 21st century learning encompasses so many new areas. Students must develop a lot of key hard skills to have the best shot at future success. But, they also need the right mix of soft skills as well. For the best experiences, teachers often strive for active learning that helps students engage their heads, hearts, and hands. Using a perfect combination of pedagogical skills and useful STEM tools, they can help facilitate creative, inquiry-based, and meaningful experiences to better prepare students for the future. Here, you can find various thoughts on creating interactive learning experiences to increase preparedness. Plus, learn about some of the technologies that help drive inclusion and real-world collaboration for kids.
Our team aims to enlighten educators on the potential that exists within 21st century learning. Whether that's learning about new technologies or how to lead impactful experiences for students, we've made it our mission to share key information. In our eyes, 21st century learning does not necessarily have a specific blueprint. As long as students feel empowered to explore, create, and learn from mistakes, that is valuable in our opinion. In this section, you'll find posts on everything from teaching strategies to specific STEAM solutions. Whether it's utilizing blended learning, focusing a bit more on MakerEd, or even navigating the potential uses of virtual reality in instruction, there's truly a lot educators can do when afforded the opportunity. Scroll on through to find content on some of the most important and relevant topics in today's evolving world of education.
Discovering connections through active experiences is a cornerstone of PBL and helps students establish authentic feelings for their causes. As such, knowing the impact these connections can have on students is key for the educators who are leading them. And, this is especially true when they leverage them across the curriculum to connect different subjects.
Every student receives grades and uses them to determine if they did well enough on an assignment, for the quarter, or to move on to the next grade. Of course, this can also create some pressure on students and sometimes lead to shortcomings in their performance. Plus, a letter grade isn’t always indicative of whether or not a student has
Self-paced learning is a form of differentiated instruction educators can integrate into learning experiences. In self-paced learning, teachers can let students decide how many lessons they need and how much practice to take before determining they’ve mastered something. Head inside for more on the techniques and potential positive outcomes for students.
Blended learning is an effective instructional strategy for teachers and students. Even more so since the onset of remote and hybrid learning, blended models have been both necessary and effective. Though it’s not as common as it used to be, it still happens in many schools and it’s highly effective for students who learn differently.
The Meeting Owl Pro packs plenty of versatility in its compact form. Though under 11 inches in height, it helps educators create enhanced inclusion, drive engagement, and ensure everyone’s voice is heard. It’s actually a three-in-one camera, microphone, and speaker that helps educators unlock active learning in any environment.
An art-inspired platform, Storybird is designed to help students become better writers. One of the most important soft skills in today’s world, we know that communication is key in any future career. Since so much of today’s workforce requires a reliance on digital technologies, it’s easy to see why educators place such an emphasis on writing skills.
Microlearning has emerged as a more widely talked about form of instruction. Though previously uncommon in K-12 education, this method has been used in other areas. By definition, microlearning consists of much shorter lessons filled with content that’s straight to the point with teachers working to eliminate any potential ‘filler’ content.
The hands-on, physical skills students build through experiences are commonly referred to as hard skills and they’re certainly valuable to their futures. What about soft skills, though? What are they, why are they so widely talked about, and what can K-12 teachers do to help make sure their students develop these beneficial skills, too?
There are, of course, many different pedagogical approaches that can lead to effective instruction. Some educators are fond of promoting a growth mindset, a maker mindset, or even a collaborative mindset. Whatever buzzwords we throw around, however, are only effective if the corresponding teaching techniques are incorporated purposefully.
As many throughout the education world have reacted and processed the events of the last couple of months, it’s left us with a refresh at the top of our institution of education. Next week, a new administration will begin serving and this includes a new Education Secretary, Miguel Cardona, replacing Besty DeVos. Here is some of what we know so
