21st Century Skills as an Imperative for Students and Teachers
A growing number of business leaders, politicians, and educators agree that students will need ‘21st Century skills’ to be successful in our world of tomorrow (AACTE & P21, 2010; ISTE, P21, & SEDTA, 2008; Rotherham & Willingham, 2009). Twenty-First Century Skills include problem solving, communication, collaboration, information and media literacy, critical thinking, and creativity (Lambert & Gong, 2010).
A perceived discord between the future skills required of students and the current practices of many teachers has led to governmental calls for a revolutionary change of University-based teacher preparations programs (Duncan, 2010). Teacher education programs have been criticized for no longer providing prospective teachers with the skills for teaching students to survive in today’s workplace (UNESCO, 2008). U.S. Department of Commerce statistics show that education is the least technology-intensive field among fifty-five U.S. industry sectors (ISTE, et al., 2008).
A vision of 21st century knowledge and skills for all students requires that educators are supported to master competencies that ensure positive learning outcomes for students, including the ability to appropriately integrate technologies to support learning and teaching (AACTE & P21, 2010). In order for students to develop 21st Century skills it is critical that our teachers possess these skills themselves (Rotherham & Willingham, 2009). Teacher education programs should provide technology-rich experiences throughout all aspects of the curriculum (UNESCO, 2008). While it is assumed by some that pre-service teachers who have recently graduated from school will automatically possess technology capabilities, research has shown that their knowledge of contemporary technologies is often limited to surface understandings and in many cases does not extend to how technology can and should be used for learning and teaching purposes (Lei, 2009).