Strategies to Engage 21st Century Learners

Students today are different. They have to be. They grew up in a digital age that continues to evolve quickly. 21st Century Skills, critical thinking and problem-solving, communication, collaboration, creativity, and innovation are essential skills necessary to be able to compete and thrive in a global marketplace. This is the challenge for today's teachers - providing these skills while engaging their students in learning.

A strategy I will use in my classroom to engage students will be integrating technology in my lessons. This is what they know and are interested in. There are many tools to reinforce learning while stressing and honing 21st century skills. Teaching with an interactive whiteboard allows students to manipulate it, or work together in groups. Using and encouraging technology for projects, such as iMovie, or Presi, or creating a blog, also utilize 21st century skills.  Another strategy I will use is cultivating a safe environment. By showing students that there are times I may need some of their help, or that things do not always work out as planned, I hope that they will feel it is okay to make mistakes, learn from them, and move on, or simply adjust. I believe students will engage more because they feel comfortable and that they contribute to the learning environment also as a producer, not just a consumer.

This class, Technology for Teachers, prepared me for this challenge of engaging my students by giving me real tools to integrate technology in the classroom. It also was a safe environment where I felt that it was okay to explore, ask questions, and realize that sometimes we need to make adjustments. My professor's philosophy of teaching, interactions with the class, and sharing her experiences proved to be an invaluable resource and example of how I want to lead my students. These things are what I loved about this class and I feel I have much to take away and put into my teacher's toolbox for my future career.

Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom

When used effectively and efficiently, an interactive whiteboard can be an engaging tool in the classroom and actually increase student achievement significantly. Having students interact with the whiteboard, having a clear objective and using it as a tool toward those means equals success.  Like anything, it can be misused or not used to the students' advantage, and even thwart achievement. This is why teachers need strategies when planning lessons with interactive whiteboards.  These include:

• Staying organized - have a clear objective and have that carry through
• Be creative - but not overly creative. Be careful not to cross the line into distracting - the goal is that the students retain the information
• Utilize the tools available
• Allow students to interact
• Keep it FUN

Digital Immigrants Teaching Digital Learners

Reading this article made me inspired and challenged to integrate technology in my classroom. I want to be able to reach my students in relevant and differentiated ways, engaging all types of intelligences. Integrating technology into the classroom means staying current, embracing, and utilizing technology wherever possible: whether it be as simplistic as taking attendance via popping balloons on a Smartboard, or having students create a simple computer game to study American History. As a Digital Immigrant, that is, one who did not grow up or was educated in a technology forward environment, I have to adapt to my learners, the Digital Natives. The role of the teacher has changed because our students of this generation have changed. They are not the learners that we once were. A teacher needs to work to engage his or her students using methods that their students find comfortable and familiar. When once the student had to adapt to a teacher's style, more than ever before, teachers need to adapt to their students' world to be successful. When I was a student, we began to get computers in our classrooms, but they were used mostly for free time and for playing fun, educational games. Nothing that was especially relevant to what we were learning in school. I took a Computer Literacy class my first year in college, and recalled with amazement when my daughter learned the same types of things about computers while in 4th grade.

Some specific strategies that educators can use to address the needs of Digital Learners in their classroom are:

• Being open to learning and staying current on technology.

• Use different methods to address different learning styles.

• Stay passionate about the students and their success - the rest will follow.

21st Century Skills

Some common themes that I observed in the videos about 21st Century Skills were: technology/digital generation, engagement, sharing information, creativity, and self-directed learning. 21st Century Skills mean problem-solving, innovative thinking, creative expression, the ability to adapt to change, and using technology. These skills are vitally important for today's learners because most of them will have jobs that do not even exist yet. Educators must prepare students to be able to adapt, achieve, and compete in our fast-paced and ever new emerging age. The role of technology is HUGE. 21st Century learners are of the digital generation, as educators, we need to embrace this and empower our students to utilize these skills.

Some questions I had, regarding 21st Century Skills, were:

• How do I learn to use these technologies well enough to use them as teaching/learning tools?

• Will I be able to stay abreast of new technologies to engage my students?

• Are some of these new skills making vital social skills unnecessary? (eye contact, conversation, etc.)