21st Century Learning

Currently, there are a lot of conversations happening in the district regarding the 21st Century Learning Environment.  There are hundreds of community members, teachers, and students serving on various committees.  These committees are tasked with developing a strategic plan to move our district forward.  I am actually on one of those committees. 

But what does a 21st Century Learning Environment look like?  What does that mean?  How will things change for teachers, students and parents?  These are questions I hear from friends, family, students, and coworkers almost on a daily basis.  For anyone interested in learning more, there are some really great resources out there that will hopefully be able to answer your questions.

Ohio is one of nineteen P21 Leadership States for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.  The P21 organization leads the nation in helping integrate 21st Century learning into core subjects.  Basically, this means Ohio has made a commitment to prepare our students for the 21st Century.  The P21 website is full of useful information including a fantastic graphic explaining the framework for 21st Century Learning.

INFOhio is a fantastic portal full of great educational resources for students and parents.   I often include INFOhio as a resource for various information literacy lessons taught in the library.  INFOhio’s 21st Century Learning Commons is specifically geared towards educators but still provides useful information for parents and students. 

Finally, The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has a fantastic printable PDF of learning standards on their website for parents, students, and librarians.  I encourage everyone in our community to explore these resources and educate themselves about 21st Century Learning.