The methods and findings from this research have resulted in a new professional development program called 21CLD (21st Century Learning Design). This hands-on program offers an accessible set of research-grounded definitions, rubrics and examples to help teachers recognize and strengthen the 21st century learning opportunities that their lessons offer to students. For each skill, the program expands the depth of these opportunities – not just can students work together, but are they really building the skills they need to collaborate substantively and successfully with other people? 21CLD also helps build a common language among teachers within a school, and provides a framework for the collaboration and other supports that can begin to bridge the gap between the rhetoric of 21st century learning and the real skills students will need for success in this changing world.
