21st Century Skills in Education: The Importance of Digital Communication and Media Literacy

1. Educators, economists, and forecasters all agree on the growing importance of so-called "21st-century skills" in the workplace. While reading, writing, and arithmetic will always form the foundation of education, digital communication and media literacy are on the verge of being elevated to the same level of importance.

2. Our kids’ futures will require them to be networked–They’ll need an “outboard brain.” They’ll also need to be more collaborative. They are going to need to work closely with people to co-create information. Will Richardson

3. In fact, one of the saddest but most common conditions in elementary school computer labs is the children are being trained to use Word, Excel and PowerPoint. I consider that criminal, because children should be making things, communicating, exploring, sharing, not running office automation tools. Nicholas Negroponte

4. I think the most radical thing about the podcasts is that you put them on iTunes!! That is so cool! The other cool thing is that people can subscribe to us, so whenever we make a new podcast it can go directly to them! This makes me feel like we are teaching people.Matt, Age 10

5. Without a doubt, the massive potential of Web 2.0 in the classroom is the marriage of voice and authentic audience. However I have to say that if you’re working with teachers who don’t even know what their content standards are, my impression is that the central pedagogical problem to be solved has nothing to do with tech.Dina Strasser

6. School is one of the few times when kids can get together with their friends and they use every unscheduled moment to socialize. They are desperately craving an opportunity to connect with their friends; not surprisingly, their use of anything that enables socialization while at school is deeply desired.Danah Boyd

7. I enjoy working on our classroom's wiki the most because you can edit it anywhere. I also enjoy when we are assigned to work on the wiki because it makes me challenge myself to find creative and informational ways to make our wiki look professional. It not only challenges me academically but it also widens my knowledge of technology.  Kathleen, Age 12

8. And let’s not forget the infinitesimal puddle in which this motivational herring is swimming: novelty. Kids tell me they love using tech in school in large part because, admittedly and sadly, its effective integration is still so limited. But trust me– this won’t last for long.Dina Strasser

9. You're right that there is the risk that inappropriate content may be posted before you get to it. That is an unavoidable fact of any efforts to get kids to create and communicate using Web 2.0 tools---and it is a fact that I had to wrestle with long and hard before engaging my kids in collaborative work.   Bill Ferriter

10. If one walks into a school, can they recognize that the students are receiving a world-class public education that is preparing them for the global economy? What resources are needed to make our schools world-class? Does a world-class public education even exist?Wake Education Partnership