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[|Learning in the ES Classroom] (published link from Google docs)

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**Learning in the 21st Cent****ury**

At its most basic level, learning can be defined as acquiring a skill or knowledge and **processing**  different types of information. In the 21 st  Century, learning is a life long process that goes beyond reading the course textbook or reference materials from the library, memorizing facts, or the ability to do well on a standardized test. Today students need skills beyond basic reading, decoding and understanding. In this Information Age where the amount of knowledge has doubled in the past 10 years and is currently doubling every 18 months#, students must be able to locate relevant information on the web, read for deep understanding in a multimedia context, evaluate the information, and then organize this ever expanding amount of information for easy access and recall. According to the 21 st  Century Workforce Commission, 21 st  century Literacy includes “strong academic skills, thinking, reasoning, teamwork skills, and proficiency in using technology.” #

 21 st  Century students need to learn to express their ideas in a compelling manner. In our world that is bursting with information, students not only must be able to write effectively but they need to be able communicate with multimedia. They must be able to match the message with the medium, and then use the appropriate tools to design or modify it to match the needs of the audience.

 I believe that my role as a teacher is not only to teach students new information but to teach them how to learn, instill in them the processes of life long learning, and give them the skills to communicate effectively in this digital age. In my classroom, I believe it is critical to provide an inquiry based learning environment where I help students to learn to construct their own knowledge. Students look for patterns, apply previous learning to a new situation, experiment, record data and ideas, reflect on these ideas, work collaboratively in teams, and individually and collectively come up with solutions to problems. The utilization of project-based learning allows students to think critically about what they are learning, solve problems, communicate, collaborate and exhibit creativity and innovation. One of the key scaffolds of learning in my classroom is the ISTE NETS (National Educational Technology Standards) for Students 2007.# The key areas they address are creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making, digital citizenship and technology operations and concepts.

 And finally, it is not only what our students learn but what they do with that knowledge. 21 st <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> century learning is about taking what is learned, and using that knowledge to solve authentic, real-world problems in our global society. We can help guide the students to identify those issues, but it is up to them to come up with viable solutions.

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