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Too often, I hear colleagues whining about the mystical "they" adding another set of expectations to our already overflowing plate of responsibility. I don't disagree that "they" seem to ask more and more of educators while the concept of "pay raises" seems a distant, mythical memory.  Thus, we are told to achieve more with fewer resources due to the mismanaging of educational financing and get paid less on top of it. It gets tough, and positive morale is difficult to maintain. Yet, when it comes to teaching 21st century skills, the cry of, "Please, not another thing to teach" does not fly. The 21st century skills are embedded in the instruction of the core curriculum.

"This leaves us with the question of how to inspire students to look through Internet search results with tenacity, to approach new technologies that may require more problem-solving skills, and to address tasks that are not as instantaneously gratifying as playing video games. It is our role as teachers to help students develop the skills to problem solve independently and collaboratively use 21st-century skills while not relying on technology to do all of the thinking for them."

"Blogging is an excellent way of motivating students to develop a lifelong love of learning. Writing is a process, and when they learn this they will be able to apply the skills to other aspects of their schooling. It also teaches children critical thinking skills which will help them as they progress through school. Along with the development of critical thinking skills, students will learn how to conduct research. This is particularly important both in school and in the workplace they will one day take part in."

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has launched a guide to being positive about digital engagement'' rather than being a wary Internet user. The Guide facilitates confident online engagement by citizens through identifying three principles which reflect the required values, skills and knowledge: Engage positively: exercise your rights and responsibilities as a digital citizen Know your online world: learn new skills and digital technologies Choose consciously: take charge of how you interact online.

"Google Docs is an online suite of digital tools that provides teachers with some powerful features to help students develop 21st century writing skills. Since Docs are collaborative and available 24/7, the tool is well-suited for facilitating digital writing workshops that combine peer editing with cooperative grouping and small group fine-tuned writing instruction."

"CHILDREN who use 'text speak' when sending messages on their mobile phones do not have a poor grasp of grammar, a study has shown. Researcher assessed the spelling, grammar, understanding of English and IQ of primary and secondary schoolchildren and compared those skills with a sample of their text messages."

"This Contemporary Literacy Practices of Preps e-book has been developed to showcase the range of learning opportunities possible when digital technologies become an integral part of children's' learning and development. The e-book is also a testament to the amazing capabilities of young learners to acquire the necessary digital literacy skills necessary for participation in life. The e-book highlights how technologies can help support sharing, collaboration and communication in and beyond the classroom."

Whether you are new to the computer, returning for review or just want to gain more 21st century skills, our free computer tutorials can help. From Computer Basics to Microsoft Office to Apple, we have a wide range of free computer tutorials to choose from.

I've spent the past few months with GCSE and A-level classes doing absolutely no writing at all beyond sample tests and student blogs. Students realise how high the bar of public domain writing is. This can be initially intimidating, but that removes all apathy or sense of the humdrum. Asking all students to write blogs as learning unfolds and interlinks empowers the teacher to be more supportive because they're less tied to the bureaucracy; it raises challenge levels; it enables IT-skilling; it lets students see their own progress and differentiates well; it means more productive and accelerating learning-talk over rote-writing.

Google has developed an interactive curriculum on YouTube to support teachers in educating students on how to be safe, engaged and confident model netizens. The initiative is aimed at students aged 13 to 17 and will help them to develop digital literacy skills on YouTube that would be applicable across the web. A list of 10 lessons has been devised, in which students can learn about YouTube's policies, how to report content, how to protect their own privacy, and how to be responsible YouTube community members and, in the broader picture, digital citizens. Each lesson comes with guidelines for teachers and ready-made slides for presentation. There's also a YouTube Curriculum channel where videos related to the project will be posted.

Education today thus faces several critical gaps: * Between the world that young people experience outside the classroom and the world within * Between the skills that students learn in school and those they will need later in life * Between those who have access to high-quality education and tools and those who do not It is increasingly an accepted truth that education systems must evolve to meet the needs of the students and societies they serve, changing their mission from knowledge transmission to preparation for future learning

"Would a person with good handwriting, spelling and grammar and instant recall of multiplication tables be considered a better candidate for a job than, say, one who knows how to configure a peer-to-peer network of devices, set up an organisation-wide Google calendar and find out where the most reliable sources of venture capital are, I wonder? The former set of skills are taught in schools, the latter are not."

"Helpouts isn't available yet, but we're currently inviting people with expertise across a number of topics to be able to offer Helpouts when we go live - and to make money sharing their skills and knowledge with the world. If you haven't received an invitation, but are interested in Helpouts, tell us. We'll let you know when we're live and accepting more applications to give help."

Grovo.com is the leading Internet training platform that sharpens your Internet skills with 60-second, personalized videos. Featuring 3,500+ video lessons covering 100+ Internet tools and cloud services - and 15 lessons added daily - Grovo is the fastest and easiest way to become a better Internet user.

"Being able to write clearly is an essential skill for all students. It can be hard for kids to pen what they mean, though. With simple online writing tools and blogs like these, students get practice writing informally in settings that aren't too daunting. Get them writing with their peers and they may soar even more."

"So how are we doing on the push to teach "digital literacy" across the K12 school spectrum? From my perspective as a school-based technology coach and history teacher, I'd say not as well as we might wish - in part because our traditional approach to curriculum and instruction wants to sort everything into its place. Digital literacy is defined as "the ability to effectively and critically navigate, evaluate, and create information using a range of digital technologies." Many educational and business professional cite is as a critical 21st century skill. Even so, many schools have struggled to adapt it into their curriculum."

"Education has always been a reflection of broader cultural values. As such, the roles of teachers and students have evolved as our models of education have moved from one iteration to another. Teachers who once traveled to town to instruct a heterogeneous room full of passive learners on matters of rote memorization have come to adopt new roles and philosophies toward learning. As these new models have emerged, educators have been required to hone their skills and adapt to ever changing sets of priorities, needs and expectations."

"This post discusses some of the challenges and proposed solutions for implementing maker education activities into a learning setting.  Several trends drive this post: The Play Deficit - diminishing amount of free play in which kids engage Lack of creativity and innovation in children's lives and toys The Maker Movement -Maker Education"

"''More and more of our jobs are dependent on technological sophistication, and yet we're doing nothing to help prepare our kids for this,'' says danah boyd, assistant research professor at Harvard and principal researcher for Microsoft Research. ''We assume that if they figured out Facebook, surely they can figure out the skills needed to work at a company like Facebook. That's societally detrimental.''"

Our education system was perfectly designed...to prepare workers for routine jobs that no longer exist. As we try to out-drill and out-test Korea we are leaving millions of young adults ill-prepared, uninspired and lacking the skills they need to thrive in an innovation economy. After seeing this film, you'll never look at school the same way again.