In states and school districts from West Virginia to Arizona, from Indiana to North Carolina, educational leaders, often prodded by the education technology community, are developing a sense of urgency for preparing our students to thrive in a competitive, global and digital future. This session will describe issues and strategies for implementation of 21st Century Skills at the state, district and classroom level. Based on Metiri’s work with pioneer districts and states in systemic implementations of 21st Century Skills, we will discuss what worked - and what didn’t - and make specific recommendations for states, districts, schools and teachers who are ready to join the push to bring America’s schools into the Digital Age.

Participants will leave the session with:

• An understanding of what is meant by 21st Century Skills – and what they’re not
• A familiarity with, and sources for, the research underpinnings for these important skills
• A set of concrete steps that can be taken to begin to move towards 21st Century learning in your state, district or school.
• Specific examples of the kinds of initiatives and practices that must be implemented to effectively build these skills.
• Examples of new and existing approaches to assessment of 21st Century Skills.

Outline

The presentation will include the following elements:

1. Historical context for 21st Century Skills 5 minutes
2. 21st Century Skills – The Research Base 10 minutes
3. Building 21st Century Skills – policies, strategies and learning experiences to support Digital Age learning 10 minutes
4. Pictures of practice – Examples of 21st Century Skills in action.  15 minutes
5. A national perspective – 21st Century Skills initiatives across the nation 5 minutes
6. Getting started – Steps for initiating 21st Century Skills at the state, district, or classroom level 10 minutes

The presentation will primarily be lecture and demonstration with interaction where possible.

Supporting Research

A comprehensive bibliography of the research underpinnings for this session can be found at http://interact.metiri.com. Follow the link for this session under NECC 2007.

Presenter Background

Ed Coughlin is Senior Vice President and a founding partner of the Metiri Group.
Coughlin specializes in professional development and in the design of assessment tools for measuring the impact of learning technology in K-20 education. He has consulted with, and designed professional development for, 21st Century Skills initiatives in several states and districts. Coughlin has over 20 years of experience in learning technology leadership at the local, state, and national levels. He has served as the lead evaluator for federal technology grant programs in Chicago and Las Vegas and has directed district level evaluations of technology programs across the nation. He is a frequent presenter at national and regional conferences. Ed is the author and co-author of a number of publications dealing with evaluation of technology integration including the 7 Dimensions Model from the Milken Exchange and the enGauge Model from NCREL. He was also a co-author of the recent publication on 21st Century Skills from the North Central Regional Education Lab, Coughlin is the former director of the Area One Learning Technology Hub, an intermediate state technology support office serving more than 1,300 schools in the Chicago. Ed has presented at state and national conferences including many workshops and presentations at NECC!

Prerequisites

An interest in 21st Century Skills and a determination to make them happen in your school, district or state.

Referenced Web Links

http://interact.metiri.com