Tuesday evening in the Orvis Theater, Art Center Lobby, and three classrooms a creative choreography of teaching, learning, and discovery was gracefully danced by a passionate troupe of students and teachers. I am often privileged to see these individual interactive performances but to have such a repertoire of engagement happening at one time on several stages was inspiring and energizing.
From an academic tech perspective I saw engaging learning opportunities with content being the driving passion and the assorted technologies being the tool that provide the means. Moodle, Skype and Pamela, Podcaster, Stella modeling, wikis, Google sites, film and animation, Wordle, Glogster, ElectricMath, Esperanto, Makerbots, Robots, Blogs, Smartlessons, Smart Music, Heart Monitors, Response Systems, and the list goes on.
The Parent Association's enrichment committee provided a variety resources for parents, a list of teacher created websites, answers to frequently asked questions, and an opportunity to meet for coffee on the Friday after for further discussion and questions. To check out their resource links and handouts visit the Enrichment page at http://isaas.seattleacademy.org/technology-and-21st-century-learning.
In the broader global context, the correlation to rubrics for 21st Century Learning prepared by The Partnership for 21st Century gives us a guide as we move further into this adventuresome learning environment. I had the opportunity to correspond with them as I gathered the appropriate permissions to use their images and information for this blog. It was again, another opportunity to see how easily connections and collaborations can occur as we engage in purposeful technology.
“The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is the leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education. The organization brings together the business community, education leaders, and policy makers to define a powerful vision for 21st century education to ensure every child's success as citizens and workers in the 21st century by providing tools and resources to help facilitate and drive change.” (http://www.p21.org/)
Twenty-First Century Student Outcomes
The elements described in this section as “21st century student outcomes” (represented by the rainbow) are the skills, knowledge and expertise students should master to succeed in work and life in the 21st century.
