21 Truths for 21st Century Learning

I’m delivering a presentation tomorrow to my district’s building level curriculum admin group. It’s a short, simple little presentation surrounding the elements of the 21st century learning environment. It has some pretty platitudes, links to some resources, and some pretty pictures. In short, it’s a rather very dull slideshow.

Which is why I decided over the weekend to try an experiment today inspired by one of the U.K.’s preeminent educator in effective and inventive use of educational technology, Tom Barret. Tom loves to crowd source a lot of his presentation slide shows using Google Docs. Not only does it make quick work of larger tasks, but it exemplifies the very nature of the 21st century learning environment; collaboration, cooperation, global awareness, and the list goes on!

So it is with Tom’s collaborative spirit in mind that I’m launching my own crowd sourced 21st century learning slide show effort. The idea is simple; one presentation, 21 different truths and/or skills or themes focused on what it means to effectively teach and learn in the 21st century. And you’re all invited to help create the presentation! If all goes well, I might have a much more exciting presentation to share tomorrow rather than my brief boring one. More importantly, anyone participating, or anyone just watching from the side lines, will have part ownership of the document, and thus will have their own exciting 21st century presentation built completely with a 21st century mindset, and using 21st century tools! Talk about authenticity!

Here’s what I’m starting with!

Truth #1 Communication & Collaboration – The workplace of the 21st century will demand the ability for individuals to be able to communicate and collaborate with a wide range of tools, from desktop video conferencing to document collaboration in the cloud.

Truth #2 Global Awareness – Students graduating to the workplace in the 21st century will be expected to connect with satellite offices, clients, and remote locations around the globe as a daily part of their routine.

Truth # 3 Information Literacy – Critical thinkers in the 21st century will have to be able to research, critique, and determine the authenticity of information from a growing number of databases and web resources.

What you can do to help!

I’ve started a presentation with a title slide, and the three truths above! I’d love for you to help build the presentation with me! Think of it as a way to both practice using collaborative tools, AND a way to have a slick presentation about the 21st century learning environment, complete with resources, links, and examples! Feel free to follow the simple formula below for creating your slide, or do your own thing! Feeling truly inspired? Create more than one slide!

Just make sure to include the following on the slide or slides you add to the presentation:

  • Name of the truth you’re adding to the presentation (great examples of 21st century learning themes can be found here)
  • A description of your truth as it will apply to students, works, or individuals in the 21st century
  • An example of the truth currently in action in the educational environment
  • Any images, links, videos, or other media that help illustrate your point
  • GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT! Make sure to include your name, and a link to your website or twitter account so people can follow you, or connect with you later 🙂

Click here to go to the 21 Truths for 21st Century learning presentation and add your slide!

Check out the progress of the slide show below. Hopefully as more people view this post, they’ll feel empowered to add to the presentation, and help it grow!