IDC ICT Resources

Come back to this for your classes

gives good insight into the skills needed in the 21st century.

Interesting opinions on what is needed for the 21st Century

Critical Thinking Creativity Knowledge of Technology

Students immersed in authentic learning activities cultivate the kinds of "portable skills" that newcomers to any discipline have the most difficulty acquiring on their own: * The judgment to distinguish reliable from unreliable information * The patience to follow longer arguments * The synthetic ability to recognize relevant patterns in unfamiliar contexts * The flexibility to work across disciplinary and cultural boundaries to generate innovative solutions Learning researchers have distilled the essence of the authentic learning experience down to 10 design elements, providing educators with a useful checklist that can be adapted to anysubject matter domain.1.  Real-world relevance: Authentic activities match the real-world tasks of professionals in practice as nearly as possible. Learning rises to the level of authenticity when it asks students to work actively with abstract concepts, facts, and formulae inside a realistic-and highly social-context mimicking "the ordinary practices of the [disciplinary] culture."2.  Ill-defined problem: Challenges cannot be solved easily by the application of an existing algorithm; instead, authentic activities are relatively undefined and open to multiple interpretations, requiring students to identify for themselves the tasks and subtasks needed to complete the major task. 3.  Sustained investigation: Problems cannot be solved in a matter of minutes or even hours. Instead, authentic activities comprise complex tasks to be investigated by students over a sustained period of time, requiring significant investment of time and intellectual resources. 4.  Multiple sources and perspectives: Learners are not given a list of resources. Authentic activities provide the opportunity for students to examine the task from a variety of theoretical and practical perspectives, using a variety of resources, and requires students to distinguish relevant from irrelevant information in the process. 5.  Collabora

! Basic, Scientific, and Technological Literacies As society changes, the skills that citizens need to negotiate the complexities of life also change. In the early 1900s, a person who had acquired simple reading, writing, and calculating skills was considered literate. It has only been in recent years that the public education system has expected all students to learn to read critically, write persuasively, think and reason logically, and solve complex problems in mathematics and science. ! Visual and Information Literacy The graphic user interface of the World Wide Web and the convergence of voice, video, and data into a common digital format have increased the use of visual imagery dramatically. Advances such as digital cameras, graphics packages, streaming video, and common imagery standards,allow for the use visual imagery to communicate ideas. Students need good visualization skills to be able to decipher, interpret, detect patterns, and communicate using imagery. Information Literacy includes accessing information efficiently and effectively, evaluating information critically and competently, and using information accurately and creatively. ! Cultural Literacy and Global Awareness The world is rapidly becoming wired and the resulting globalization of commerce and trade has increased the need for cultural literacy. In such a global economy, with the U.S. concerned about interactions, partnerships and competition from around the world, there is a greater necessity for knowing, understanding and appreciating other cultures, including cultural formations established as norms in a technological society, such as virtual realities. ! Adaptability/Managing Complexity and Self-Direction The interconnectedness of today's world brings with it unprecedented complexity. Globalization and the Web are inherently complex, accelerating the pace of change in today's world. Interaction in such an environment requires individuals to be a

An article about the meaning for why 21st century skills are crucial and relevant.

Great resource. Lists specific skills with descriptions.

A website describing valuable skills in the 21 century

From adaptation skills, project management and even interpersonal skills, it's the skills that are in high demand in the work force.

Top 10 jobs in Canada, as of 6 months ago. Let's us see what skills can be relevant to our futures. The other seven jobs are on the following pages.

We have to get used to thinking of images, sounds and movement as raw material for construction. What a picture means, for instance, is no longer entirely defined by what is IN the picture, but rather by how it is used and in what context. Students have to learn to think about the purposes for which they want to use different media when they are authoring a multimedia text.

Top 10 Jobs in Canada. Maybe it's something you want to do in the future.