C21 Blog - C21 Canada

December 7, 2012 by admin

A Guide for Facilitating 21st Century Learning

Brock University professor and C21 Canada supporter Dr. Camille Rutherford contributes this guest post. Check out her blog for insights on leadership, teacher education and technology.

Students do not become 21st century learners on their own. They need learning opportunities that challenge them to utilize 21st century fluencies and integrate the five dimensions of 21st century learning. These dimensions include:

Collaboration
Knowledge-building
The use of ICT for learning
Self-regulation
Real-world problem-solving and innovation

The following is a set of guidelines developed by the Innovative Teaching and Learning Research program to help educators understand how they can create learning opportunities that will facilitate the development of 21st century skills. In addition to a brief description of each of the five dimensions of 21st century learning, the guidelines include a scale/rubric which educators can use to determine the degree to which each dimension is present during a specific learning opportunity.

Similar to Bloom’s Taxonomy, educators should seek to create learning opportunities that challenge their students to demonstrate the highest level on each scale. While educators may strive towards the highest levels of each dimension, it is important to note that these scales/rubrics should be applied to a sequence of lessons or unit plan and not individual lessons. Even though an individual lesson could focus on a single dimension, it is not possible to achieve the highest level on all of the scales/rubric within a single classroom lesson.
For the full description of the Innovative Teaching and Learning Research: Learning Activity Rubrics and Sample Student Work Rubrics please visit: http://www.itlresearch.com/home.

Collaboration

To challenge students to the highest level of collaboration, students need to have shared responsibility for their work, and participate in learning activities that requires students to make substantive decisions together. These features help students learn the important collaboration skills of negotiation, agreement on what must be done, distribution of tasks, listening to the ideas of others, and integration of ideas into a coherent whole.

1 = Students are NOT required to work together in pairs or groups.

2 = Students DO work together: BUT they DO NOT have shared responsibility.

3 = Students DO have shared responsibility; BUT they ARE NOT required to make substantive decisions together.

4 = Students DO have shared responsibility AND they DO make substantive decisions together about the content, process, or product of their work.

Knowledge Building

Knowledge building happens when students do more than reproduce what

they have learned: they go beyond knowledge reproduction to generate ideas

and understandings that are new to them. Activities that require knowledge building ask students to interpret, analyse, synthesize, or evaluateinformation or ideas.

1 = The learning activity DOES NOT REQUIRE students to build knowledge.

Students can complete the activity by reproducing information or by

using familiar procedures.

2 = The learning activity DOES REQUIRE students to build knowledge by

interpreting, analysing, synthesizing, or evaluating information or

ideas; BUT the activity’s main requirement IS NOT knowledge building.

3 = The learning activity’s main requirement IS knowledge building; BUT the learning activity DOES NOT have learning goals in more than one subject.

4 = The learning activity’s main requirement IS knowledge building; AND the knowledge building IS interdisciplinary. The activity DOES have learning goals in more than one subject.

Use of ICT for Learning

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is becoming increasingly

common in the classroom, but ICT is often used to support practice on basic skills rather than to build knowledge. This dimension examines how students use ICT—whether or not the use of ICT helps students build knowledge, and whether or not students could build the same knowledge without using ICT.

1 = Students do not have the opportunity to use ICT for this learning activity.

2 = Students use ICT to learn or practice basic skills or reproduce information; BUT they are not building knowledge.

3 = Students use ICT to support knowledge building; BUT they could build the same knowledge without using ICT.

4 = Students use ICT to support knowledge building; AND the ICT is required for building this knowledge.

Self-Regulation

In 21st century workplaces, people are expected to work with minimal supervision, which requires them to plan their own work and monitor its quality. Learning activities that give students the opportunity to acquire self-regulation skills last for a week or more and require students to monitor their progress. Teachers can foster self-regulation skills by giving students working in groups responsibility for deciding who will do what and on what schedule.

1 = The learning activity can be completed in less than a week.

2 = The learning activity lasts for one week or more; BUT students ARE NOT given the assessment criteria before they submit their work and; DO NOT have the opportunity to plan their own work.

3 = The learning activity lasts for one week or more AND students ARE given the assessment criteria before they submit their work OR DO have the opportunity to plan their own work.

4 = The learning activity lasts for one week or more AND students ARE given the assessment criteria before they

submit their work AND DO have the opportunity to plan their own work.

Real Problem Solving and Innovation

In traditional schooling, students’ academic activities are often separate from what they see and do in the world outside school. True problem solving requires students to work on solving real problems, and challenges them to complete tasks for which they do NOT already know a response or solution. For the result of this problem solving to be considered innovative it must require students to implement their ideas, designs or solutions for audiences outside the classroom.

1 = The learning activity’s main requirement IS NOT problem-solving.

Students use a previously learned answer or procedure for most of

the work.

2 = The learning activity’s main requirement IS problem-solving; BUT the problem IS NOT a real-world problem.

3 = The learning activity’s main requirement IS problem-solving AND the problem IS a real-world problem; BUT students DO NOT innovate. They are NOT required to implement their ideas in the real world.

4 = The learning activity’s main requirement IS problem-solving AND the problem IS a real-world problem AND students DO innovate. They ARE required to implement their ideas in the real world.

Here are some learning activities to review and determine where they would rank on the five dimensions:

Consider ways to revise these learning activities so that students would be challenged to demonstrate the highest level of each dimension.

November 28, 2012 by admin

A National Conversation?

Guest blogger Chris Kennedy, Superintendent of Schools and CEO with the West Vancouver School District, writes about the need for national engagement in education. He regularly writes at Culture of Yes.

In reading the Programme for International Students (PISA) results, Canada is broken up by province, while all other nations report as countries. Of course, this speaks to the responsibility of education in Canada as a provincial matter while in most countries, it has some Federal coordination. While it is a provincial matter in Canada, there are times where some national engagement is important.

We often look to Finland (guilty as charged with these posts 1 and 2) as a possible model for the way forward, and look to the United States as a model we dare not, or want to, emulate (Many in Canada worry that Texas curriculum or online learning from Florida will make its way north). Yet, we spend very little time learning from other provinces. We know far more about reform in New York than we do in Winnipeg, and about improvements in Helsinki rather than Ottawa. It is quite interesting how we look outside of BC (and I think across Canada) for learning partners, examples to follow or avoid, without fully engaging in conversations across this country.

There are some efforts and organizations trying to bridge this gap. The Canadian Education Association (CEA) has been in existence since 1891, bringing together educators from a variety of roles across the country and advancing ideas for greater student and teacher engagement. This past week CEA’s Chief Executive Officer, Ron Canuel, launched a challenge around Why Do We Need Innovation in Education? The CEA has a series of projects to link jurisdictions across the country including several awards programs and a series of national research reports.

Other nationals include C21 Canada, shaped somewhat after the P21 Organization in the United States, is a not-for-profit organization advocating for the 21st Century models of learning in education, and has recently released Shifting Minds: A Vision and Framework for 21st Century Learning in Canada. Another organization, is The Learning Partnership, a national charitable organization dedicated to championing a strong public education system in Canada through innovative programs, credible research, policy initiatives, executive leadership and public engagement. Two of their more recognizable programs include Take Your Kid to Work Day in November and Welcome to Kindergarten.

There are also a number of other national organizations including the Canadian School Board Association (who will host their national conference this coming July in Vancouver), Canadian Association of Principals, the Canadian Teachers Federation and the Canadian Association of School Administrators. Clearly, there are no shortage of education organizations working at a national level.

So, returning to my original question, and my interest in writing this — somehow, we need to have more conversations linking education work across the country. There are huge learning opportunities from other jurisdictions and while there is value in learning from Finland, Singapore, or New Zealand, there are also great possibilities in learning from our fellow provinces, many of which join BC at the top of the PISA scales. Whether it is the Inspiring Education efforts in Alberta, the work in assessment and evaluation coming out of Manitoba or the early learning lessons from Ontario, among many others, there is a lot to share.

I have also noticed another shift in the BC Education mindset in recent years –our schools are becoming less competitive with one another, and I also think the same holds true for our districts. There is no pride taken when one community in BC struggles, while others flourish; we do need to move this to a national conversation and a real sense of national ownership. This is more challenging, but is a laudable goal.

We should/will keep learning and networking with countries around the world, because that is what one needs to do as part of a global conversation, but this should be alongside rich, national conversations on the same topics.

I am part of a free event this coming Friday morning (November 30), that will try to view education through a national lens. The Action Canada Public Dialogue: Challenges and Change in Canada’s Education Systems is at the Work Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver. The event, moderated by Tom Clark, Chief Political Correspondent, and Host of the West Block on Global TV, hosts three panels: Standardized Testing in Canada: Real Accountability or an Illusion of Success?, Teaching Questions Not Answers: Adapting Canada’s Education System for the 21st Century, and Who Cares About Young Caregivers: Children’s Rights and Education. I will be part of a five-member panel on the 21st century system question. Full details are available here including registration information.

October 3, 2012 by Robert Martellacci

News Release: Shifting Minds: A Vision and Framework for 21st Century Learning in Canada

TORONTO, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012 – C21 Canada, Canadians for 21st Century Learning and Innovation, is set to release its Shifting Minds document on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at the C21 board meeting in Toronto.

Shifting Minds is a national vision and framework for 21st century models of learning in Canada. Global leaders in education and other sectors of society have identified a number of competencies and skills that are now critical for personal and societal success in the knowledge and digital era. Founded on Seven Guiding Principles, the document serves as a guide for integrating these key competencies and skills into Canada’s learning systems.
“CSBA is proud to be a founding partner in C21. The release of Shifting Minds provides the education sector and in particular school boards the opportunity to reflect and inspire new and innovative practices in support of student outcomes in a global economy,” stated Sandi Urban Hall, President of Canadian School Boards Association.

The Shifting Minds document evolved from the inaugural C21 Canada Summit held last February, which convened 50 of Canada’s education and business leaders in the field of 21st century learning, with the belief that public education in Canada must be transformed to position Canadians for success in the knowledge and digital age.

“Shifting Minds provides Canadians a vision of what their education systems should aspire to become and a blueprint of how to get there,” stated John Kershaw, president of C21 Canada.
Shifting Minds reflects broad input from the private and public sectors. The document is available at http://www.c21canada.org/.

Download: Shifting Minds: A Vision and Framework for 21st Century Learning in Canada (English)
Transformer Les Esprits: L’Enseignement public du Canada une vision pour le XXIe siècle (Français)

-more-

About C21 Canada
C21 Canada is a unique blend of national education associations and knowledge sector businesses united in their belief that 21st century models of learning must be adopted in public education on an urgent basis to position Canadians for economic, social and personal success in the high skills, knowledge and innovation based economy. www.c21canada.org

C21 Canada’s Founding Members: Canadian Education Association, Canadian School Board Association, Dell, EF Educational Tours, IBM, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Microsoft, Nelson Education, Oxford University Press, Pearson, Scholastic Education, SMART Technologies.

Secretariat: 21st Century Learning Associates, MindShare Learning.

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Contact: Robert Martellacci
Vice-President, C21 Canada

President & Publisher

Mindshare Learning Report
Cell: 416-569-2106
robert@mindsharelearning.com

October 2, 2012 by Robert Martellacci

Canadian School Boards’ Association Endorses the “Shifting Minds: A 21st Century Vision of Public Education in Canada” Document

21st Century Learning is a key priority of the Canadian School Boards Association. Canadian students require a learning experience that develops competencies required into the future.

We applaud the efforts of C21 Canada, and are proud to be a founding partner. The release of “Shifting Minds” provides the education sector and in particular school boards the opportunity to reflect and inspire new innovative practices in support of student outcomes in a global economy.

On behalf of the Canadian School Boards Association, I am pleased to send you this formal endorsement of the document “Shifting Minds: A 21st Century Vision of Public Education in Canada” as a means to inspire a national conversation to create a 21st century learning framework. We invite all Canadians to join the conversation!

Sincerely,

Sandi Urban Hall

President

September 25, 2012 by John Kershaw

Shifting Minds: Education System Re-Design Priorities

C21 Canada is pleased to present our third blog in our series on Shifting Minds, our vision for 21st Century learning in Canada. Over the past few months we have sought public feedback on our draft document which can be found here.

Our first blog focused on the nature of 21st Century models of learning and the principles that underlie Shifting Minds. The second blog introduced Shifting Mind’s seven 21st century competency themes. This third blog highlights the systemic changes required to position Canada’s education systems for 21st century models of learning.

If the penultimate goal of 21st century models of learning is to produce creative, innovative and collaborative global citizens well versed in using modern technologies, then educators and the systems within which they function must emulate these traits. Fostering an innovative learner is more likely to be achieved by an innovative teacher. Similarly, an innovative teacher is more likely to flourish within an innovation oriented education system.

The first priority in redesigning education systems for 21st century models of learning is to recruit the right people. Faculties of Education across Canada must adopt appropriate selection protocols and learning standards for aspiring new teachers. Faculty staff should also be recruited and remunerated on their capacity to emulate 21st century instructional practices to pre-service teachers. Education systems must then focus their in-service training efforts to augment 21st century teaching competencies and skills on an ongoing basis. Alignment of purpose between pre-service and in-service recruitment and training would certainly accelerate the overall process.

Canada’s education curricula must be relevant to today’s student and learning outcomes designed to fully engage students in their own learning. Today, learning must be about fostering the ability to create knowledge, find innovative solutions to complex problems, and fostering global citizens. The plethora of learning outcomes that has infiltrated curricula over time must be reduced to give teachers more instructional time to ensure learners have a depth of understanding of complex subjects. Curricula must also be re-designed to infuse the 21st century competencies and skills identified in Shifting Minds.

Teaching practices must also evolve to align with the needs of today’s students. Project based learning, personalized learning opportunities, and professional learning communities must become the norm. Teachers must also be prolific at integrating technology with pedagogy.

Today’s learning environments must be flexible and offer opportunities for both personalized and collaborative learning opportunities. Individualized access to the internet and a diversity of ICT tools and digital learning resources by both teachers and students must be ubiquitous.

Governance models must also evolve. If educators and schools are to be innovative by design, central agencies must be less prescriptive in how learning is achieved. Providing supportive policy frameworks for front line educators must be the focal point of central agencies. However, along with the enhanced autonomy of front line educators comes an enhanced level of accountability for student achievement results.

Citizen engagement in the re-design process is a pre-requisite to success. Societal support for the required changes will only be achieved if communities and parents are made aware of the imperative for and benefits of change, both for their children and for society at large.

In the knowledge and digital era, the adoption of 21st century models of learning in Canada’s education system is an economic and social imperative. The questions are no longer what do we need to do and how do we do it. We have these answers. The questions today are when do we start and how quickly can we make it happen. Indeed, what we really need is leadership!