Whether you like the 2.0 moniker that has been attached to new web technologies, it seems here to stay. In fact, the 2.0 descriptor has become the buzz word in many areas beyond the web. It basically means the next generation. As we look at the new web technologies and teaching and learning in the 21st century, we realize we are entering the next generation in schools as well. I prefer to think top-down. I like to call it Graduate 2.0. We need to first think about our graduates and what they need to be able to do. Our graduates’ needs will determine the structure of our schools and that in turn will create the modern student experience. So, what is a Graduate 2.0.
According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the skills we need to be teaching include the following:
• Information, media literacy, and communication skills
• Thinking and problem-solving
• Interpersonal, collaborative, and self-direction skills
•Global awareness
• Economic and business literacy, including entrepreneurial skills
• Civic literacy
“We can look at these 21st-century skills as an extension of efforts that date as far back as John Dewey at the turn of the previous century. Learning by doing was a core theme of John Dewey’s work . . . . We don’t want to teach our students about science, we want them to become scientists. They can collect data themselves, analyze the results using sophisticated techniques, present their results, and discuss these results with experts from around the world-all within the confines of their desks” (Regan, 2008).
What I find more interesting is to go to the real source of what graduates need in the 21st century and that is employers. In the report presented to Congress last year entitled “Are They Ready to Work” even college graduates received low ratings for lacking necessary 21st century skills. “Less than 30 percent of employers rated them (college graduates) as “excellent” in skills that those companies say will become more important over the next five years-critical thinking, teamwork, creativity and diversity. About 46 percent deemed them exceptional in applied information technology” (Schoeff, 2007).
We are all talking about the same needs here. Quite simply, we need schools that let students learn by doing with technology as their main tool of inquiry. The very nature of that simple statement implies that students are engaged collaboratively, learning to communicate, and problem solving. From there we can incorporate lessons that teach citizenship, economics, global awareness, and most of all emphasize communication: both verbal and written.
I’m a forest guy. I want to keep things broad in perspective in my mind. That perspective also allows a lot of flexibility in terms of direction. If we focus on the trees, we’ll be overwhelmed with the individual tasks at hand in order to move this massive institution we call education.
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