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Rotherham runs an education policy think tank and was once on the Board of Education in Virginia. This editorial provides a  more historical view of "21st century skills."

Gateway for educational research. Wish I knew about this during the research class!

This site would have been GREAT during our educational research class! WOW! Thanks for sharing Garry!

Interview with Lan Neugent on his platform and idea of Open Education Resources

This is an interview with Lan Neugent. It can give you an idea of his current iniative in VA for education and technology.

VSTE is an advocate for educational technology. This page breaks down issues into various levels.

Tom's blog is on my aggregator list!

I see a lot on the blog that probably shouldn't be posted due to the fact that it deals with things going on in Henrico County Public Schools. It raises issues with intellectual property and our web posting guidelines. If it can be construed as for one's personal gain, then it's not acceptable. The we and intellectual property guidelines are actually part of policy the last time I checked. Just my thought on it... I do visit the blog to help understand some of the jargon.

I have to agree with you Gary, however, I thought below was powerful: I think about where we spend our money. We're constantly trying to find easy ways out of holes, easy ways to scale metaphorical mountains. We look for processes to remove the chores of thought and decision. Education is floundering. We lost our faith in teachers. It is every politician's easy drum to beat- after all. "Our schools are failing! The enemies are at the gate!"1 Who would argue that our kids don't deserve better? Both parties agree. Education is failing. Our solution is not to work, to spend money and time on our teachers, to help them become better, instead we send our money away, spending precious time testing products of a system we insist is broken. We buy software. We buy content. We buy external experts.2 We buy reputation. We buy "trust" and "quality" because we don't believe either really exists in our schools. Invest that money in our teachers, on smaller classes, on things that have been proven to matter. Make teaching a career that isn't based on martyrdom. Martyrs die flaming deaths. Systems based on them don't last. There are no easy answers. You can't buy, process, software, magic your way out of this. There is no microwave dinner version of educational reform.

Technology Horizons in Education is FREE and full of valuable learning for administrators working with technology. Check it out!

I liked how the article mentioned that being technology savvy isn't the only skill necessary to succeed in the 21st century and how it is just as important to teach problem solving and analytical skills.

I agree Shannon! Sometimes I think we get so "technology happy" that we often forget some of the other skills which are equally as important.

I think we also forget that 21st century skills does not always mean "using a computer." Collaboration is a 21st century skill that can be achieved sans a technological device. I feel like that is all we hear....21st century learner, 21st century learner!! Do all teachers, parents and students really know what that means?

I found this article interesting because I never thought that companies would capitalize on the concept of 21st Century Skills to make a profit. I copied just a portion of the article for your review, however I think it would be worth your time to read the entire article. "Recently, those critics have leveled a more serious charge at the organization. P21, they allege, is a veiled attempt by technology companies-which make up the bulk of the group's membership-to gain more influence over the classroom. "The closer we look, the more P21's unproven educational program appears to be just another mechanism for selling more stuff to schools," Lynne Munson, the president and executive director of Common Core, a Washington group that advocates a stronger core curriculum, wrote in a recent blog item.".

You know, Stacy, I have always been cautious about corporate involvement in education and have major concerns about pushing 21st century skills too hard vs. focusing on content. Thanks for this article! It seems no one wants to champion or at least humor this viewpoint. I believe in objectivity and opposing viewpoints as a cornerstone of a democratic society.

This article talks about teachers who actively use cell phones in their classroom. While they make some valid points and have come up with somre really creative lessons, I still am a tad bit skeptical!

So is it possible that cell phones just don't fit with traditional education? In other words, as long as schools are organized the way they are, we just can't use them for all the reasons we've talked about: safety, distraction, cheating, etc. etc.

I think some teachers are willing to try and incorporate them into education, but the majority think it is too much of a hassle. As an administrator and a teacher, I personally think the cons out weigh the pros.

Gates makes a strong case for making new technology part of our investment in education The better educated our students are, the better we will perform economically.

I agree that technology is crucial for our investment in education and that it will help us perform better economically, but we need to get a grasp on the safety aspect because it is getting way out of hand.

Virginia Technology Plans

I really enjoyed reading this article and tend to agree! Altough we live in a very technological world and I Iove my computer and all of the great things I can do; it often makes us very lazy and often out of touch with reality.

I do agree that technology takes the personal out of a lot of things. This article reminded me of a quote from "Sweet Home Alabama." When Dorthea says to Melanie "He doesn't want to get ATMs on the account of no personal contact." I also agree with the idea of kids not reading as much or doing as much work and getting lazy about education.

This article talks about the importance of getting the parents involved and educated about what their children are doing on the computer. It ultimately starts at home and parents need to check the internet and constantly monitor what their kids are doing and who they are communicating with.

Virginia will receive an additional $324 million in federal economic-stimulus funds to help retain teachers and improve low-performing schools.

I thought this was just a friendly reminder how lucky Henrico County is to have so much technology at its fingertips!!!

Technology provides ways to enrich instruction. yada yada

"Effective" is the word that caught my attention is this article. For us to use technology effectively in an enriching and engaging manner, we need effective staff development. Most of these articles assume that the motivated teacher is going to find the time to learn this on his/her own. Not everyone is like that. I'd like to start concentrating on finding articles on effective staff development.

Article discussing pitfalls of classroom technology use.

I've also witnessed the use of the interactive whiteboards. The teacher stood at the front of the room and clicked on items that she had prepared on her computer while the students sat and listened just as they would during a regular lecture. It was just nicer to look at.

This is the perfect example of the intersection of pedagogy and technology: if pedagogy doesn't change (ie, teacher presentation as a primary means of instruction), then technology will be used to support that. I do know a few teachers who said that maybe they brought kids to the board more, but most of them already had students come up when they had a chalkboard so it wasn't that much of a stretch.

This online community provides educators with free access to webinar style video conferencing software.  We can use it for virtual office hours.

Hey guys...I found this site to be very helpful, especially for those parents who have absolutely NO CLUE what is going on even if they are looking at their child's acivity. Felt this tied into our blogging this week...but this is more geared to the drug side of technology use (which is so depressing)

It is just plain sad to me that kids go online to find "new" ways to get high! Keeping the parents educated is the key to keeping kids safe. It has to start at home. I know as educators we also play an important role, but parents have to constantly monitor what their kids are doing on the web.

I like how there are several different categories parents to use as resources. Cell phones, social networking, and even music.