21st Century Tech Skills

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is an organization designed to build partnerships between companies, schools, the community, and government leaders for the sole purpose of integrating school course work with the real work environments of the 21st century. This organization has developed a framework of skills that students should mastered by each grade level. They have also created assessments for their standards, all of which are aligned with skills students need to enter the 21st century workplace. 

While researching the organization and the resources that are available from 21st Century I was surprised that I had never heard of or seen any of these resources in my school. Looking at the English standards and the literacy maps under the list of publications I was thrilled to see example where students were to use a wiki or blog to create and maintain a dialogue journal discussing the reading of a shared text with a partner or group. This student project/assignment aligned with standards for reading, writing and technology skills. Working on an assignment like this with my students would be something I am trying to plan on for the next novel we read. 

I did not disagree with anything on the site. I am sure that not all of the student outcomes for literacy meet the standards set by the state of Kentucky where I teach but they could be easily aligned with work from the department of education and teachers throughout the state/community. 

Seeing all of the contributors such as Disney, Lego, Apple, Ford, and other major companies this organization is working with major businesses to develop lessons for students so they are educated to succeed in the 21st century workplace. I could not believe how many of the companies have major offices in my area and are contributing to this organization because they want to make sure their workforce is trained and exposed to the skills necessary for their jobs. Implications for my students are that currently they are behind schools/districts who are involved with 21st Century. As an educator I need to find a way to become involved with these types of lessons so that my students have a chance of succeeding when they graduate from high school or college. This organization is one that I would like to partner with and have our teachers begin looking at aligning our content standards with that of the partnerships'.