Skills for the Conceptual Age Design - today it’s economica lly crucial and personally rewarding to create something that is also beautiful, whimsical and emotionall y engaging Symphony - seeing the big picture, crossing boundaries, and being able to combine disparate pieces into an interesting new whole. Story- The essence of persuasion, communica tion and self- understan ding has become the ability also to fashion a compelling narrative Empathy - the ability to understand what makes their fellow woman or man tick, to forge relationships, and to care for others Play - In the conceptual age, in work and in life, we all need to play Meaning - pursuit of purpose, transcendenc e and spiritual fulfillment

With all of the high-tech gadgetry cascading into our lives, you might have thought this book would be bout teaching students how to use technology. In my view, the use of technology in the classroom is not the critical issue facing us in education in the 21st century. The issue of foremost importance is to develop thinking skills in our students so that they will be able to utilize the power of technological tools to solve problems and to do useful work. People who possess technology skills but lack independent problem solving skills are useless until someone tells them what to do. The use of technology needs to be taught along with the higher-level thinking skills required to solve problems. People with these independent problem solving skills plus technology proficiency will have great power and will be effective, productive participants in families, communities, and businesses...what students need first and foremost are effective thinking skills. Teaching for Tomorrow pg. 84

In our schools we must… Resist the temptation to tell Problems first, teaching second Progressively withdraw from helping students Reevaluate evaluation Stop teaching decontextualized content Stop giving students the final product of our thinking Ted McCain

So What Could a 21 st Century Classroom Look Like?

11 UDL Paradigm Shift: How UDL changes the way we think about students and education Old Assumptions New Assumptions Instructional adjustments need to be made for at risk students. Learning is centered on a single text book. The problem is with the student – remediate, remediate, remediate… Instructional adjustments need to be made for all learners. Learning materials are varied, digital. The solution is within the learning environment. A flexible learning environment adapts to the needs of all students. Center for Applied Special Technologies, CAST Students who learn differently constitute a separate category. Students who learn differently fall along a continuum of learner differences.

Exponential Change

Jobs/Careers* Our Students Will Have Nuclear Pharmaceuticals Injectable Tissue Engineer Mechatronics (smart controlled actuators). Grid computing Molecular imaging Nanoimprinting Lithography Software assurance Glyconics Quantum cryptography Agriceuticals and Biopharmaceuticals Designer optics

Nanotechnology and MEMS “We need people who can conceptually work at the molecular level.” “Working with nanotechnology concepts should begin as early as grade 4.” “How do we get nanotechnology into the curriculum?” 20 million jobs in NT in the next 5 years Universities are graduating 25% of the people power required Fall 2004

Skills for the 21 st Century Cooperative Learning and Perseverance Critical and creative thinking Digital literacy/information literacy Inquiry (think like a scientist)- enlightened skepticism Problem solving Decision making

“Now we are going into…an era in which technology will literally transform every aspect of business, every aspect of life, every aspect of society.” » Carly Fiorina, CEO HP

A Vision of K-12 Students Today

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Where to from here? “So if we know all of this why aren’t we changing?” What do you see in classrooms today that gives you hope? What questions do you have and who will answer them?

Sid Shugarman