Horizon's Report - Challenges to Implementation

Challenges to Implementation
The past two months we have looked at the Horizon's Report.  The report outlines a variety of new ideas and technologies that could have an impact on education in the near future to seven years.  If you have never seen the report, I highly suggest taking a glimpse at it.

There is also a section in the report that looks into the challenges to implementing some of the great ideas and technologies presented.  We will spend the next couple weeks looking into these challenges, which range from easily solved to very challenging.

This week we will focus on the challenge of Adequately Defining and Supporting Digital Literacy.  The traditional definition of literacy is the ability to read and write.  The 21st century definition includes digital, cultural, and financial literacy, otherwise known as 21st century skills.  The challenge is accurately defining and agreeing on what 21st century skills actually are AND if they are important enough to devote class time to.  If we come to agreement and decide they are important enough to teach, the next challenge is how do we properly teach 21st century skills?  What resources do we have?  Some of the challenge for teachers is understanding a literacy that did not exist when they were in school.

Adequately defining and supporting digital literacy is a solvable challenge.  Through good conversation and teamwork, a school can accurately define the 21st century skills and identify which skills need to be taught and develop a plan how to teach them.  21st century literacies are important and are needed for success in our current world.  In 2015, our students need to learn how to properly read and write in a 21st century environment.

Next week we will look at the blending of formal and informal learning.

21st Century Skills Resource
P21