STSD Curriculum & Technology Update

Regular updates and musings on curriculum and technology in the Salisbury Township School District in Allentown, PA.

21st Century Skills

Borrowing from fellow colleague STAR DEN Advisory Board Member Jennifer Dorman, I am including her research links for our learning community’s professional development.
* U.S. Department of Education National Education Technology Plan
* U.S. Department of Education Technolgy Evaluation and Research
* The Partnership for 21st Century Skills
* Noodle Tools 21st Century Literacies
* 21st Century Technology Support Project
* Landmarks for Schools
* enGauge: 21st Century Skills - Literacy in the Digital Age
* Skill Sets for the 21st Century
* The Evolving Definition of Literacy
* Big6 The Importance of Contemporary Literacy
* Teaching Information Literacy
* Learning in the Digital Age
* Preparing the Digital Generation for the Age of Innovation
* The Challenge of the Digital Age

Randy discussed enGauge in our initial meeting.  I thought if we shared a common list of resources, we might deconstruct our notion of “basics” in light of the what Pink [A Whole New Mind] calls the Conceptual Age.

Comments

Have you read Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind? It’s on my pile to read...time, you know? I have seen a lot of references to it, so very interested in getting to it. If anyone has read this, it would be great to hear more about it!

Pink suggests that “the future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind--creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers.” Success in the future will derive from infusing “high concept” [artistic design + emotional beauty --> something new from something unrelated] and “high touch” [empathy + interaction] into today’s skills.  Progressing from the Agricultural Age [farmers] through the Industrial [factory workers] and Information [knowledge workers] Ages, we have arrived at the Conceptual Age [creators and empathizers], i.e., R-Directed thinking [right brain creativity].  His thesis is provocative: information is instant, so with abundance, Asia, and automation, L-Directed professions [think lawyers and accountants, his examples] potentially earn less and succumb to the three A’s.  The MFA is the new MBA. 

Why? Because R-Directed Thinking will not answer yes to: Can someone do it cheaper?  Can a computer do it faster?  Think about the recent sale of You-Tube.  That’s R-Directed Thinking.  Or think about Bob Lutz who said GM was in the art business.  What’s utility without meaning and design.  Survival depends on differentiation, and that happens when your portfolio consists of design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning, but that’s the start of Part 2 and as far as I’ve read.  Can someone pick up the summary from here?

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