C21 Canada

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C21 Canada enters the next phase

C21 Canada will be discussing their Shifting Minds 21st Century learning policy statement and how to relate to the growing interest in membership when they meet in Toronto tomorrow. Shifting Minds was the centrepiece of C21 Canada’s Summit held at the Kingbridge Convention Centre on February 15th, 2012. Shifting Minds: A 21st Century Vision of Public Education for Canada, has received positive reviews and has been even further refined based on the feedback received both at the Summit and through the organization’s website.  C21 Canada intends to keep the policy statement dynamic and will continue to seek public feedback to ensure it reflects both international learning research and Canadian values and learning priorities.

C21 Canada will also be reviewing its membership strategy given the growing interest from individual educators, school districts and private businesses who are signalling they wish to become active members.  A Membership Strategy will likely be released via the organization’s website within days of tomorrow’s meeting.

– John Kershaw, President, C21 Canada

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C21 Summit Interview with Catherine Fife, President, OPSBA and VP, CSBA

Catherine Fife, President of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA) and Vice President of Canadian School Boards Association (CSBA) is interviewed by Robert Martellacci, President & Publisher, MindShare Learning about her experience at our first annual C21 Summit: Shifting Minds that took place in Kingsbridge, Ontario on February 15, 2012.

 

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Shifting Minds: 21st Century Learning Summit


C21 Canada successfully hosted their inaugural forum on 21st Century learning February 15th at the Kingbridge Centre in King City, Ontario. The event allowed the founding members of Canadians for 21st Century Learning and Innovation Summit (C21 Canada) to benefit from the advice of 50 education and business leaders from across Canada. The delegates discussed and provided feedback on C21 Canada’s draft position paper on 21st Century, entitled Shifting Minds and also identified the key actions C21 Canada should pursue to further the 21st Century learning agenda in Canada.

The Summit commenced with an introductory presentation on global economic, social and learning trends in by Charles Fadel, author of 21st Century Skills and founder of the Centre for Curriculum Re-Design located at Harvard University. The delegates also discussed the Canadian Education Association’s recent findings relating to how Canadian students were disengaging from learning and how new evidence on how people learn combined with modern instructional practices will improve student engagement and performance.

C21 Canada also took the opportunity to officially launch their organization and unveil their new website www.c21canada.org.

C21 Canada’s Shifting Minds draft document identifies the key elements of a 21st Century learning framework, including the need for today’s students to be highly skilled in literacy and numeracy, as well as learning competencies such as creative and innovative thinking, collaboration, communication and other skills that world leaders in learning have determined to be of increasing importance in the knowledge economy and era.   Modern instructional practices designed to better engage students and help them improve their levels of understanding and achievement are also identified in the draft position paper while building on the relevancy of local content and themes  from core ccurriula. Delegates supported C21 Canada’s position that while the global movement toward 21st Century models of learning in public education is a positive development for students, it was important to have a framework and model that reflects Canadian values and culture.

C21 Canada welcomes feedback on the Shifting Minds draft document, posted  on this website. The document will then be revised based on the advice received and eventually form the base for C21 Canada’s efforts to see an accelerated pace of 21st Century competencies, instructional practices and digital resources being integrated into Canada’s learning systems. Anyone interested in commenting to C21 Canada on the draft Shifting Minds document is encouraged to send their remarks to feedback @ c21canada.org or below in the comment section.

The feedback from the delegates on the event was very positive and the members of C21 Canada were very pleased with the level of engagement and quality of advice received.

To that end….would selected participants be invited to submit a short blog or statements about their feedback to provide a hint of flavour as to the culture present…and to capture an authentic positive voice…..some of the comments made by participants during the lightening round provided optimisn and a positive voice to the process.

– John Kershaw, President, C21 Canada

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C21 Canada’s inaugural blog

The official launch of C21 Canada introduces a dynamic new force in Canadian education. Canadians for 21st Century Learning and Innovation (C21 Canada) is a nonprofit organization calling for changes in public education on behalf of students, parents and Canadians in general. We are a unique blend of education organizations and private sector companies with the shared goal of witnessing an accelerated pace of 21st Century competencies, instructional practices and digital resources and services being integrated into Canada’s learning systems. Our call for change is rooted in international research that clearly shows that today’s youth, the digital generation, need different competencies than those of the industrial era. Canadians know the world has changed, and yet Canada’s learning systems have failed to keep pace.  Highly literate, creative and innovative people are now the drivers of the high skills, knowledge and innovation based economy and are needed to address increasingly complex social, economic  and environmental challenges.

The need for change is urgent. Surveys undertaken by the Canadian Education Association are showing students disengaging from their learning at record levels. We must transform public education to be more relevant to students and provide them with teachers skilled in 21st Century instructional practices and learning environments designed for personalized learning and equipped with the ICT tools of their generation.

A year ago 21st Century Learning Associates and MindShare Learning joined forces and approached the organizations that are now the founding members of C21 Canada. On February 15th 50 of Canada’s leaders in the world of 21st Century learning gathered to help C21 Canada create Shifting Minds, a 21st Century learning framework to share with Canadians. We believe that if Canadian parents realized their children were not receiving the education they will need to be successful in the future, they would be demand change. C21 Canada plans to make Canadians aware of this reality and showcase those educators, and systems that are already leading the way forward.

Visit our new website at www.C21Canada.org to learn more about our organization and help us strengthen our Shifting Minds position statement on 21st Century learning. We need your help to ensure our youth receive an education designed for their future, not our past. Join us in our quest to give our youth the learning opportunities they both deserve and need.

 

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C21 Canada

A new coalition of Canadian companies and education organizations is to be created. The Coalition for 21st Century Learning and Innovation (C21 Canada) will be a not for profit organization with a mandate to advocate for 21st Century models of learning in public education. The coalition wishes to see 21st Century competencies, such as creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration and culture, infused into curriculum, and an accelerated pace of integrating digital technology into Canadian classrooms in an effort to more fully engage students, the digital generation, in their learning.

The founding members of the organization met in Toronto on September 14th, 2011 and committed to moving forward with incorporation. The first Board of Directors meeting is slated for November.

The members consist of a unique blend of Canadian education associations and knowledge based companies. Representatives of the Canadian School Board Association and Canadian Education Association are both vocal advocates of shifting Canada’s public education systems to 21st Century models of learning. The knowledge based companies, often competitors in the education market, share the view that Canada needs to position itself with a high quality workforce equipped with 21st Century skills to be competitive in the global market.  While there are pockets of innovative learning and teaching practices being witnessed in various regions of the country, the coalition wishes to see a more comprehensive, strategic, and accelerated national approach. The founding members of the coalition share the view that 21st Century models of learning are urgently required in public education to position students and Canada for success in the knowledge and digital age.

Companies and organizations represented in Toronto at the founding meeting of C21 Canada included Apple, Cisco, Dell, IBM, Microsoft, Nelson Learning, Pearson Education, Scholastic Canada, Smart Technologies, the Canadian School Board Association, Canadian Education Association, Toronto School Board Association, Education Research Development Incorporated (ERDI), and York University’s  Institute for Research on Learning Technologies, 21st Century Learning Associates and MindShare Learning.
Attendees at the Toronto meeting also agreed to work collaboratively in identifying and inviting other business and education organizations to join the C21 Canada initiative. Companies or education organizations interested in learning more about the C21 Canada initiative are invited to contact John Kershaw at Kershaw@21stcenturylearningassociates.com or Robert Martellacci at Robert@mindsharelearning.com.

Profile

C21 Canada and its members provide collaborative vision and support to help Canadian education organizations enhance learning in the foundation areas of literacy, numeracy and science while infusing 21st Century skills (creative problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, personal development, global citizenship and digital competency) into content, and instructional and assessment practices.

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